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Animal Rights and Environmental Ethics

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The Structural Links between Ecology, Evolution and Ethics

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science ((BSPS,volume 296))

Abstract

The position I favor (the “rights view”) prioritizes the moral rights of individuals when it comes to our moral thinking. Some defining features of these rights are explained; reasons for recognizing them in the case of humans are advanced; and arguments for extending them to other-than-human animals are sketched. Several objections are considered, including those that dispute the rights view’s alleged inability to explain (1) the amorality of predator-prey relations and (2) our obligations to preserve rare and endangered species.

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Correspondence to Tom Regan .

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Regan, T. (2012). Animal Rights and Environmental Ethics. In: Bergandi, D. (eds) The Structural Links between Ecology, Evolution and Ethics. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, vol 296. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5067-8_8

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