Brief History of the Animal Rights Movement
This paper aims to highlight a critical social justice movement that touches beings that are barely protected by society – animals. The idea that animals possess personal qualities akin to humans stems from the Darwinists who protested against speciesism (Linzey & Linzey, 2018). This topic has gained attention during the twentieth century and is connected with the rise in the exploitation of animals for both production and entertainment (Blattner et al., 2019). There are apparent links between slavery and the treatment of animals in society that make it impossible to ignore this subject any longer.
Relevant Ethical Problems
Animal cruelty is a rampant issue, yet many people are oblivious to the experiences of non-human beings that were forcefully ‘integrated’ into society. Every day, humans across the globe cause suffering and deaths in the natural world with an appalling indifference (Blattner et al., 2019). It is possible to change this way, yet the capacity to extend empathy to other beings appears to be lacking. People take animal products as given, as their attention is drawn away from the nature of these goods.
Nowadays, the notion of intrinsic rights permeates societal structures. However, not all beings have their rights adequately addressed. Farm animals are stripped of all their natural rights and considered to be more of a product than living beings (Linzey & Linzey, 2018). It is essential to understand that the focus of the movement is on animal treatment by humans, which are the only species able to comprehend the concept of natural rights. It is up to society to make peace with those whose rights humans have stolen.
Ethical Motivation for Cooperation
With the rise of mass production farms, animals suffered extensive abuse at the hands of humans. There are thousands of videos from these places revealing the full extent of this issue. At the same time, people began to realize that their actions indirectly caused this excessive suffering. Understanding that ethics is not individual to humans gave society a new perception of those unable to voice their protests, and people took the initiative into their hands (Linzey & Linzey, 2018). Animal rights activists are motivated by their goal to end a still existing form of slavery that stems from speciesism.
References
Blattner, C. E., Coulter, K., & Kymlicka, W. (2019). Animal labour: A new frontier of Interspecies justice? Oxford University Press.
Linzey, A., & Linzey, C. (2018). The palgrave handbook of practical animal ethics. Springer.