Table Of ContentEthical and Political Approaches
to Nonhuman Animal Issues
“This book beautifully captures where we – Animal Studies scholars – have
come from, and where we are heading. Ryder, Adams and others lay the
foundation stones, while a host of emerging scholars point to the future. This
book is anotherreminder of the richness of the research field andthe talent of
those dedicated to conceptualising responses to the problematic nature of
contemporary human/nonhuman relations.”
— Siobhan O’Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of
New South Wales, Australia
“Thisbookoffersagreatcollectionofessaysatthecuttingedgeof‘interspecies
studies’. By bringing together authors with philosophical, political and activist
backgrounds,itmakesforanimportantreadforallofthoseconcernedwiththe
plight of nonhuman animals.”
— Alasdair Cochrane, Senior Lecturer in Political Theory,
University of Sheffield, UK
“This book represents another positive step towards the development of a
genuinely political approach to nonhuman animal ethics. The scope of the
volumeisimpressive,containingnotonlycontributionsbysomeoftheleading
figures in the field but also by some rising stars. It deserves a wide audience.”
— Robert Garner, Professor of Political Theory, University of Leicester, UK
Andrew Woodhall (cid:129) Gabriel Garmendia da Trindade
Editors
Ethical and Political
Approaches to
Nonhuman Animal
Issues
Editors
AndrewWoodhall GabrielGarmendiadaTrindade
IndependentResearcher DepartmentofPhilosophy
Huntly,Aberdeenshire UniversityofBirmingham
UnitedKingdom Birmingham,UnitedKingdom
ISBN978-3-319-54548-6 ISBN978-3-319-54549-3(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-54549-3
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For all the moral and political animals, nonhuman and human,
and the hope of a future undivided
Foreword
- 1 -
MaybetheBritishandtheAmericananimalrightsmovementshavebeen
ff
entirelydi erent.OursintheUKburstintorenewedlifearoundthelate
’
1960s with the opposition to hunting with hounds, Brigid Brophys
article on Animal Rights in the Sunday Times in 1965, the stopping of
ff
otterhunting,growingmediapublicity(thisreallytooko in1975),my
creation of the concept of speciesism in 1970, the publication of
Animals Men and Morals by the Oxford Group of philosophers in
’
1971, Peter Singers review of that book in the New York Review of
Books, and his publication of Animal Liberation in 1975 where he
explores the idea of speciesism.
’
One reason why I turned down Peters kind invitation to be joint
authorofAnimalLiberationwasthatIhadbythenstartedtryingtoput
animals into politics. It was all trial and error, but it took up so much
time in my already hectic lifestyle (I was working full time as a psychol-
ogistinanOxfordhospital)thatIfeltIhadnotimetowrite.Needlessto
say, I have always regretted my decision. But this experience nicely
illustrates the clash between writing and doing, and between ethics
and politics, as well as the transition between the two which Robert
“ ”
Garner and others have now called the turn .
vii
viii Foreword
- 2 -
Arrogantly,I imaginedin1975 that Ihadcompletelyworkedout the
– “ ”
ethical position! To me it seemed cut and dried a won argument. I
called my theory Painism. It went like this:
ff
1)Theonlyevilispain(painmeansanyformofsu ering,including,for
example, fear, sense of injustice, lack of liberty, etc.)
2)Morality is about our treatment of others (others means all indivi-
duals capable of experiencing pain).
3)The only wrong is causing pain to others.
ff
4)Allsu erershaveequal moralvalue,regardlessofrace,sex,species,or
ff
other di erence.
5)SoXamountofpaininadogorarobot,forexample,mattersequally
with X amount of pain in a human being.
6)Adding up pains or pleasures across separate individuals is mean-
ff
ingless. (No one su ers such totals).
7)So the wrongness of an event is measured not by the number of
ff ff
su erers but by the quantity of pain felt by its maximum su erer.
Armed with this rationale, I proceeded to storm Parliament! Fairly
quickly I began to discover the strange interaction between media
publicity and political interest. The more publicity I got, the more the
politiciansshowedinterestandthegreaterthepoliticalactivity,themore
the media showed an interest.
- 3 -
Fortunately,themediarespondedverywellandoverthenext40years
or so I had at least one hundred opportunities on radio and television
around the world to stand up for nonhumans and to promote the ideas
of speciesism and painism. Working with remarkable men like Lord
HoughtonandBrianDavies,welearnedhowtoputanimalsintopolitics
andhowtoachievelegislation.IsetupEurogroupinBrusselswhichhas
achieved around twelve EU laws to protect animals (farm animals, wild
fi
animals, domestic, and laboratory animals) and in the UK we got ve
new laws to better protect animals, most recently the Hunting Act of
2004 and the Animal Welfare Act of 2006.
Foreword ix
Advocacyorcampaigning(asIusuallycalledit)isaboutmakingfriends
withthepoliticiansandmakingfriendswiththemedia.Ihavefoundthere
are at least four sorts of evidence that help to persuade governments:
(cid:129)
Evidence that the voters support reforms (e.g. public opinion polls)
(cid:129) ff
Evidence of su ering (e.g. photographs)
(cid:129)
Expert evidence (especially from animal welfare science, from eco-
nomics, and from lawyers)
(cid:129)
Evidence that alternative nonanimal techniques exist
- 4 -
ff
Unfortunately, there has been a major negative spin-o from the UK
ban on hunting with hounds. Thousands of well-heeled supporters of
hunting (including many politicians, lawyers, and business people) now
devote their time attempting to repeal the ban. They have turned a
sectionofthe mediaagainst usandagainst the RSPCA.Nevertheless,in
other parts of the world, such as China, some animal protection legis-
’
lative progress is being made. The Popes amazing new encyclical
“
(LaudatoSi,2015)attacksspeciesism(whichhecalls tyrannicalanthro-
” ff
pocentrism )andwilla ectthethinkingof2.4billionCatholicsaround
the world. Young people turn increasingly to veganism.
- 5 -
This book, too, will assist in progress, and the editors are to be com-
mended.Themovementneedsthegrowinghelpofintelligentpeople.We
need to bridge the gap between theory and practice. All conscious beings
fi
are,byde nition,persons.Wemustattacktheprejudiceofspeciesismand
translate nonhuman rights into legislative action, for example, at the
United Nations. Nonhuman animalsarepoliticalsubjects too. Weare all
ff
partsofthesamecommunityofsu ering.MyoldfriendsSteveSapontzis
andKimStallwoodareentirelyright: ouradvocacy shouldbebothmoral
and political. The implication of Darwinism must be taken seriously: we
arerelatedtotheotheranimalsthroughevolutionandsoallanimalsshould
ff
be treated as our relatives. We all can su er pain, and the prevention of
painisthemoralbasis foralllaw.
Richard D. Ryder
x Foreword
References
Ryder, R. D., 2012. Painism. In R. Chadwick, ed., The Encyclopedia of
Applied Ethics, Vol. 3, 2nd Edition, London: Academic Press.
Ryder, R. D., 2015. Tyrannical Anthropocentrism. The Ark: The
–
Magazine of Catholic Concern for Animals, 231, pp. 14 17.
Acknowledgements
With a book of this scale and scope the number of people who have
helped along the way, and how indebted the editors are, can never be
– –
fully orjustly expressed.Thisbookbeganasacomingtogetherofthe
thoughtsofthe Ethicsand/or Politicsconference thatweorganisedatthe
University of Birmingham, UK, in April 2015 and from that point has
grown and developed in ways that we could never have foreseen, almost
as if it had a life of its own. That process has not only been one of
interest and development, both for the book and ourselves, but also one
– – fl
that has quite understandably involved the in uence and input of
fi
manypeopleininnumerableways.Weareimmenselyproudofthe nal
–
product that you hold in your hands a product that was shaped not
just by our vision, but by those of the contributors, the guidance,
inspiration, encouragement and impact of countless people along the
way (in small and large ways), and by the book itself. While thanking
everyone, or even knowing where to begin to thank everyone, would be
an impossible quest we would like to do the best we can as we are
fi
in nitely aware of, and interminably grateful for, all that each of these
ff
people have done and the e ect they have had on making this book the
excellentvolumewefeelthatitis.Thisbookisnotjusttheproductofus
–
as editors, but of all of you and especially of those who contributed
theirtime, love,andhardwork.Weareeternallygrateful,andthisbook
belongs to you all.
xi
