Should Animals Have the Same Rights as People?

Should Animals Have the Same Rights as People?

Last year Leona Helmsley left $12 million to her dog, Trouble, setting off a heated courtroom battle. California just passed a proposition that says farm animals must be humanely caged. The legal line between humans and animals is blurring further everyday. When it comes to "animal rights," should your cocker spaniel be entitled to the same freedoms and protections as your kid?

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You are seeing 4 Comments on this Argument. See all 187 Comments on this Question.
Regarding Argument
Sentience is Sufficient for Basic Rights Protection
- From Eric Prescott
Making Sense of Animal Rights Side
By Eric Prescott
Close Argument Open Argument Go to this Argument

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  • quantummechanik
    All living things

    have interests, i.e. the interest to reproduce and the interest to avoid death. Plants have these interests. Do plants have the same rights as people?

    - quantummechanikUS April 1, 2009 4:41PM

    Reply to this Recommend (0) Icon flag Side: No

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  • pemmom
    Sentience

    Define sentience. It is an ambiguous and nebulous term. What is sentience?

    - pemmomUS April 16, 2009 9:28PM

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  • sor666
    What is "necessary"?

    Necessary is of course relative- what may not appear to be necessary to one person can seem very necessary to another. I agree that "self-awareness" is very problematic as a term. Can we be sure that plants are not self-aware?

    - sor666AU May 6, 2009 7:43AM

    Reply to this Recommend (0) Icon flag Side: Yes

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Related Debates
"That Depends on Your Worldview" Paul J Fitzgerald
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  • Tibor Machan
    Tibor Machan
    Tibor Machan (b. 1939) is a leading philosopher of individualism. For more than three decades, he has fought the good fight in the academic world. More

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