4 - Can We Talk?

Summary

Animals’ unique similarity and responsiveness to humanity require a separate examination of the moral contours of human–animal relationships. To begin, powerful moral intuitions create a seemingly unbridgeable divide between those who affirm animal rights and those who believe in the unique moral value of people. This chapter examines possible avenues of communication and sympathy between the two sides through explorations of meat eating, hunting, the role of animals in medical research, the status of exotic species, and individual animals vs. ecosystem support. It concludes by stressing the moral need to examine not only the fate of animals but also to question both our emotional response to their plight and how our current form of life is responsible for their suffering and extinction.