'Animal Liberation Now' And The Case For More Humane Treatment Of Animals

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4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

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Summary

Fifty years ago, Princeton University ethicist Peter Singer made the case that humans assume they're morally superior to other animals and that their actions against them are justified.

At the time, speciesism was a radical concept that was adopted by some animal rights groups but was largely ignored by the general public.

Today, roughly 10 to 15 percent of Americans identify as vegan or vegetarian according to researchers at Oklahoma State and Kansas State University.

But Singer argues there's still much more progress that needs to be made on animal rights.

His new book "Animal Liberation Now" revisits the themes of his 1975 seminal classic, Animal Liberation, and examines how the animal rights movement intersects with climate change, social justice, and more.

We discuss his latest book and the animal rights movement.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Millions of Americans, at least 5% of the population according to a 2018 Gallup poll, identify
0:14.6	as vegan or vegetarian.
0:17.1	And there are many reasons why people choose not to eat meat as we heard from many of
0:21.0	you.
0:22.0	My family went vegan several years ago after my son's cancer diagnosis.
0:27.7	Larry, Nashville, Tennessee, I'm vegan.
0:31.1	These days I'm most proud of being able to actively contribute to fighting climate change.
0:36.4	Recipes for vegan and vegetarian foods as well as complete meals that you can purchase
0:42.9	in the stores taste much better than they did years ago.
0:46.8	It's a question and an issue of both good health and ethics.
0:53.0	Nearly 50 years ago, ethicist Peter Singer wrote the book Animal Liberation.
0:58.5	He promoted a relatively novel idea at the time.
1:02.0	Humans shouldn't be considered superior to other animals and we should take actions to
1:05.7	lessen animal suffering.
1:07.6	His writing impacted a lot of you.
1:09.7	I have been a vegan for the past 8 to 9 years.
1:13.4	Thanks to Peter Singer, I heard that.
1:16.0	I have been a vegetarian for 48 years.
1:19.8	I've decided to become a vegetarian back in the mid 90s.
1:24.8	And it was actually an environmental ethics class and Peter Singer's original book.
1:29.5	Everything made sense when I heard him talk about the ethical towards animals.
1:33.0	It was largely because of Peter Singer's book Animal Liberation that I became one.
	...

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