Tom Regan

A detailed Summary of Tom Regan

Tom Regan- „The Case for Animal Rights"

Although the animal rights-movement was originally started by Peter Singer, it was Tom Regan who came up with the most uncompromising ideas and gave the movement its name. In his book, which came out under the University of California Press in 1983, Regan argues that humans and animals have equal inherent rights. However, before explaining his own philosophy, he explains four other theories that exist about animal rights. These four theories are those of indirect duty, contractarianism, kindness/cruelty and utilitarianism. After having elaborated on these theories, he explains the fallacies of these theories with regard to animal rights.

The first theory Regan deals with is that of indirect duty. In this theory, we have no direct duties towards animals, we do not owe them anything and we cannot inflict injustice upon them. Animals are only owed consideration to the extent that actions toward them have an effect on the people who care for them He illustrates the falsity of this theory with an example: your neighbour kicks his dog, yet according to the previous assumption this is not wrong, as the owner of the dog is not harmed emotionally or physically. This system has two basic flaws:

Although Regan recognizes that people without the standard anatomy or intelligence should still be considered to have an intrinsic value, he does not embrace this idea fully in his theory. He does not account for any kind of being without any needs or wants (such as a person who is in a coma) to still have an intrinsic value. Although this person is not clearly an experiencing subject, he or she should still be considered to have an inherent value as one might never know when that person would regain consciousness.

The second theory Regan deals with is that of contractarianism, a somewhat more sophisticated form of indirect duty. This theory states that morality consists of a set of rules that individuals voluntarily agree to abide by, like a contract. All those who understand and accept the rules and terms of the contract are directly covered. Those who are not capable of understanding terms of the contract, such as children, may be indirectly covered, but only if there is a covered person who cares for the uncovered person. Lastly, those who are uncovered by the contract directly or indirectly may be treated in any way whatsoever. Regan feels that this theory does not work either, as there is no right to fair participation in the process of moral rule-making, which is done by the leading group in the government which is often far from representative. Therefore some groups will be underrepresented, and systematic injustices and oppressions may be justified by contractarianism. Furthermore, this theory denies the inherent worth of each individual- whether young or old, intelligent or less capable.

The last theory the author discusses before elaborating on his own theory is that of utilitarianism. This theory is based on two principles: the first one is that of equality, the second is that of utility. The first principle demands the recognition that everyone's interests are treated as equal, and that similar interests be counted as hav

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Approximate Word count = 1317
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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