PHIL 4 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Mary Wollstonecraft, Speciesism, William Frankena
10/16/17
● Vivisection
● Peter Singer - utilitarian
○ “All animals are equal”
■ If we have learned anything from liberation movements, we should have
learnt how difficult it is to be aware of latent prejudice in our attitudes
■ We need expansion of our moral horizons and extension of the basic
moral principle of equality
● Mary Wollstonecraft
○ A Vindication of the rights of woman
■ A Vindication of the rights of brutes
● Arguing the wollstonecraft’s logic would easily lead to the rights
for dogs, cats, and horses.
● The rights of women
○ How would we respond to A vindication of the rights of brutes?
○ It is easy to justify the right for women to vote
● Although this only happened less than 100 yrs ago
■ But it would be absurd to give an animal the right to vote
● The principle of equality
○ Women in the US have the right to abortion
○ But it doesn’t follow that men have the right to an abortion
■ It is meaningless to talk of such a right - men have no interest in abortion
○ Similarly, it is meaningless to talk about pigs right to vote.
■ But what about a pig’s right to equal consideration of its Actual
● The principle
○ Equal interests should be treated equally, regardless of the
being who has those interests
● Why no Sexism or Racism?
○ Some have argued that inequality will always exist in society: some are smart,
some are better communicators. Each human has a different set of capacities
○ Common response: you cannot justify unequal treatment on the basis of race or
sex, because different capacities vary among those of different races and sexes
○ Singer: not persuasive? Why
■ Singling out beneficial features to society belittles the interests of beings
that do not have the beneficial features
● It is still be wrong to enslave people if their iq is under 100.
○ We cannot base equality on intelligence, strength, moral capacity or other similar
features
● The principle of equality
○ Philosophers have often states that one humans interests are no more important
anothers
Document Summary
If we have learned anything from liberation movements, we should have learnt how difficult it is to be aware of latent prejudice in our attitudes. We need expansion of our moral horizons and extension of the basic moral principle of equality. A vindication of the rights of woman. A vindication of the rights of brutes. Arguing the wollstonecraft"s logic would easily lead to the rights for dogs, cats, and horses. It is easy to justify the right for women to vote. Although this only happened less than 100 yrs ago. But it would be absurd to give an animal the right to vote. Women in the us have the right to abortion. But it doesn"t follow that men have the right to an abortion. It is meaningless to talk of such a right - men have no interest in abortion. Similarly, it is meaningless to talk about pigs right to vote.
