MDSB01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Tom Regan, Animal Welfare, Speciesism
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A prejudice or bias in favour of the interests of members of one"s own species and against those of members of other species. For singer, speciesism enables us to put a fictitious gulf between ourselves and other animals (tar 15) When i created the term speciesism in 1970 i wanted to see the sufferings of other species included in the usual moral circle. Moral discrimination based upon species seemed to me to be as crazy as moral discrimination based upon race, gender, age, size, or any other physical difference. For me, suffering is the central issue in ethics, and if something can suffer pain or distress then it deserves moral consideration (from, painism versus utilitarianism ) Interests = conscious desire for pleasure, conscious aversion to pain and suffering. As such, the interests [of non-human animals] are to be given the same consideration as the like interests of any other being (tar 16)
