All Animals Are Equal… or why the ethical principle on which human equality rests requires us to extend equal consideration to animals too

Abstract

Exctract from the book Animal Liberation Now (Publisher: New York: HarperCollins, 2023), which shows that despite the growing importance of the animal liberation movement, we still abuse animals on an incomprehensible scale. The book returns to the themes of Animal Liberation - Peter Singer's groundbreaking work from 1975 and examines how the issues of the animal rights movement intertwine with climate change and social justice. The book is also a voice arguing for a new ethics of our relationship with animals. In the quoted passage, Peter Singer argues for animal liberation and equal treatment of the interests of humans and non-humans. He also describes speciesism as prioritizing the interests of one's own species. The ethical basis for equal treatment of different species is their shared capacity to suffer.