In Defense of Animals (eBook)

PETER SINGER is Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University and Laureate Professor in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of Animal Liberation, first published in 1975, and is widely credited with triggering the modern animal rights movement. The success of his 2009 book The Life You Can Save led him to found the organization of the same name, which researches and recommends the most effective organizations working to reduce global poverty. In 2012 Singer was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Preface Peter Singer.

Part I: The Ideas.

1. Utilitarianism and Animals: Gaverick Matheny.

2. The Scientific Basis for Assessing Suffering in Animals:
Marian Stamp Dawkins.

3. The Animal Debate: A Re-Examination: Paola Cavalieri.

4. On the Question of Personhood Beyond Homo sapiens: David
DeGrazia.

5. Religion and Animals: Paul Waldau.

Part II: The Problems.

6. Speciesism in the Laboratory: Richard Ryder.

7. Brave New Farm?: Jim Mason and Mary Finelli.

8. Outlawed in Europe: Clare Druce and Philip Lymbery.

9. Against Zoos: Dale Jamieson.

10. To Eat the Laughing Animal: Dale Peterson.

Part III: Activists and Their Strategies.

11. How Austria Achieved a Historic Breakthrough for Animals:
Martin Balluch.

12. Butcher Knives into Pruning Hooks: Doing Civil Disobedience
for Animals: Pelle Strindlund.

13. Opening Cages, Opening Eyes: An Investigation and Open
Rescue at an Egg Factory Farm: Miyun Park.

14. Living and Working in Defense of Animals: Matt Ball.

15. Effective Advocacy: Stealing From the Corporate Playbook:
Bruce Friedrich.

16. Moving the Media: From Foe, or Indifferent Stranger, to
Friend: Karen Dawn.

17. The CEO as Animal Activist: John Mackey and Whole Foods:
John Mackey, Karen Dawn and Lauren Ornelas.

18. Ten Points for Activists: Henry Spira and Peter Singer.

A Final Word: Peter Singer.

Further Reading, Useful Organizations.

Index

"Paul McCartney once said that if slaughterhouses had glass
walls, everyone would be a vegetarian. This book continues Peter
Singer's important, urgent project of turning these walls, one by
one, to glass. The essays alert us to the holocaust that continues
in farms and laboratories; a holocaust that most people ignore -
not because they are bad people, but, perhaps, because the horror
of what we do to animals is too big to contemplate. ... The
wonderful essays in this book remind us that any form of humanism
must respect all sentient beings, and that a culture that can
create workers who can bear listening to the screams of the
"animals" they kill ... and that can also create people who are
prepared to look the other way and enjoy the spoils of the whole
endeavour - is a culture that is not only cruel and deluded, but
well primed for the next human holocaust." The Independent
on Sunday

"Peter Singer's writing changed my life. I have waited for
this book for a long time, a quarter of a century in fact. What an
exquisite collection of fine writers with compelling philosophies,
philosophies that translate into positive ways to change society
and one's own daily life for the better." Ingrid
Newkirk, President, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA)

"A survey of the new wave of philosophy, science, and
action in the cause of animals. The theoretical essays give a
masterly overview of the field, while the essays on animal-rights
activism are engaging and full of good sense." J. M.
Coetzee, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 2003

"Take your fork out of that animal on your plate, and sit
down in a comfortable chair and read this book instead. Essential
reading for anyone who cares deeply about the lives of
animals." Jeffrey Masson, author of The Pig Who Sang to
the Moon

"I welcome the era when overwhelming, unconscionable cruelty is
not longer the outstanding feature of people's interactions with
animals. The books under review facilitate that era's arrival."
Peter S. Wenz, Social Theory and Practice