When we come to look at the Animal Rights position, it’s helpful to remember that this is a philosophical position to which we might give  serious consideration, but as such it’s not the same as the Animal Rights movement, which is more to do with campaigning and activism, and at times has been given very unfair treatment by mainstream media. The Animal Rights position has essentially grown out of an understanding and development of human rights over the last 50 years or so (although as we noted previously in the History section, there are strains of vegan philosophy going back millennia) and many of us credit Professor Tom Regan as the person who really explored and articulated the animal rights position as we understand it today, with the publication of his book The Case for Animal Rights back in 1983.

 

The Animal Rights position is in fact pretty straightforward and simple – it’s an understanding and a recognition of all animals as individuals and rights bearers, with a one basic fundamental right – the right not to be commodified, not to be used and not to be killed for profit or gain. This is a ‘negative’ right in the sense that it’s not a right demanding something like free health care or a bus pass – it’s a right to be left alone. And it’s also a birthright – animals don’t have to do anything to ‘attain’ these rights, they are born with them and it’s for us to recognise and uphold them. And – its a moral right, as opposed to a legal right, but as more people recognise & uphold these fundamental moral rights, in time they become legal rights too.

 

Of course, there’s a lot to discuss around this principle or position – and there’s some excellent further reading & viewing on the subject,  with some links below. A question that often arises when we consider animals as rights bearers is – where do we draw the line? do we include for example earwigs or molluscs in our understanding of rights bearers? The answer to that, as articulated by Tom Regan, is to give them the benefit of doubt wherever possible and leave all sentient beings alone and free from disruption or harm as best we can. And that wherever we draw our lines, draw them in pencil, because we may need to rub them out again and redraw them as our understanding of life around us grows and develops. But there are currently many animals about which there is no doubt – they are being killed by the billion by a vast industrial complex that shows no regard for the individual or their right to life.

 

The Animal Rights position, although simple and straightforward, based on respect, non-violence and fairness, is nevertheless seen as a very radical position, and in some respects that reflects just how standardized animal use is in our society. By challenging the property status of animals, we go against society’s norms, and that in itself is radical. When we think of other social justice movements and the fight for rights for LGBTQ+ 50 years ago, women and the suffragette movement 100 years ago, and the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade 200 years ago, then we are reminded of how what once was a very radical position is now almost universally accepted as a society norm  – although much work remains in the pursuit of genuine liberation and equality for many marginalised & oppressed groups across the globe.

 

The Animal Rights position may seem radical today, but with some consideration and thought it becomes a clear & well thought through position of great relevance which in many respects underpins an understanding of veganism. Veganism is essentially a set of lifestyle choices that align with our values and understanding of animals having a right not be commodified. By recognising, understanding and upholding these fundamental rights, aligning our lifestyle choices with those values, ensuring we don’t violate those individuals’ rights wherever possible, and by becoming advocates for those individuals and their rights – then we have an understanding of why so many people go vegan, stay vegan and want to help others go vegan. And then that rather tired joke ‘How do you know that someone is vegan? Don’t worry they’ll soon tell you’ begins to make a bit more sense.

 

 

“The important idea for the purposes of the animal rights movement is the idea of what philosophers call a negative right, this is a right of non-interference, non-invasion, non-harm and what the animal rights people were really trying to do, what we’re trying to say is that the arguments are in place, they’re there, they’re compelling, they’re persuasive, that make the case that these rights extend to other animals” – Tom Regan

 

 

 

Tom Regan – Animal Rights – short 10 minute film of Tom’s best speech

 

Tom Regan – The Late Late Show – Interview on TV

 

Tom Regan -The Case for Animal Rights – 1985 (short essay)

 

Tom Regan – The Case for Animal Rights  (Audiobook)

 

Jordi Casamitjana – Animal Rights vs Veganism – 2023