The Moral Equality of Humans and Animals (The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series)

That human beings have greater cosmic significance than non-human animals is pervasively believed as a self-evident truth. For millennia, we have been informed that the interests of humans count more than the interests of animals, and that the lives of humans are more valuable than the lives of non-human animals. Reference to this alleged hierarchical importance has been used as the dominant justification for factory farming, hunting, and vivisection. It is well-past time to end this myth, and to show that once the reasons for received opinion are illuminated, the edifice for many of our egregious animal-related institutions collapses like a house of cards. Received opinion has it that humans are morally superior to non-human animals; human interests matter more than the like interests of animals and the value of human lives is alleged to be greater than the value of nonhuman animal lives. Since this belief causes mayhem and murder, its de-mythologizing requires urgent attention. Front Matter....Pages i-xii On the Relative Unimportance of Human Interests....Pages 1-66 On the Relative Unimportance of Human Life....Pages 67-145 Conclusion....Pages 146-146 Back Matter....Pages 147-153 Mark H. Bernstein, Purdue University, Usa. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.