From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Sat Jan 09 1999 - 15:57:13 MST
In a message dated 99-01-09 17:30:09 EST, samael@dial.pipex.com (Samael)
wrote:
> I'd be interested to hear peoples opinions on the rights of animals. Do you
> believe that animals have no rights and can be ignored, that animals have a
> sliding scale of rights based upon their intelligence, or some other
system?
We had quite a discussion of this subject here (or was it on the old
"Transhumans" list?) a couple of years ago. You might try hunting (ugh) in
the archives.
I think there are two questions here: (1) Do animals have "rights" and (2) How
should we behave toward the natural environment. I've written a little on the
latter subject. You can find a brief discussion of one take on "extropian
environmentalism" at
http://users.aol.com/gburch1/exenv.html
As for the former, one first has to have a clear idea of what the term
"rights" means. I find it hard to conceive of a "right" without an entity
capable of asserting that right, so I don't find it useful to speak of
"rights" in connection with animals that can't at least let out some kind of
squeak of protest. However, with that first squeak comes some minimal
"rights". Ultimately, though, I agree with the second alternative you
indicate, i.e.a "sliding scale" of rights based on the sophistication of
mental apparatus and the level of self-awareness. On this scale animals like
primates and cetaceans rank pretty high.
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<burchg@liddellsapp.com>
Attorney ::: Director, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
"Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must
be driven into practice with courageous impatience."
-- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover
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