The book that started everything. Australian philosopher Peter Singer made the case that species membership alone isn't a morally relevant criterion for how we treat a being, what matters is the capacity to suffer. He coined the term "speciesism" and applied rigorous utilitarian logic to factory farming, animal testing, and the contradictions embedded in how humans relate to other animals.

By Peter Singer • 2023 Singer's own update to his foundational text, fifty odd years later. Same core arguments, but with revised statistics, contemporary examples, new scientific evidence on animal cognition and sentience, and engagement with criticisms that emerged over the decades. It also grapples with issues the 1975 edition couldn't anticipate - industrial aquaculture, the global explosion of factory farming in Asia and South America, and - the sliver lining on the mush

David DeGrazia • 2002 Animal Rights is designed to give intelligent non-specialists a foothold in complex fields. It is a concise, balanced, academically rigorous overview of the major positions, arguments, and counterarguments in animal rights theory. No advocacy, no pleading, just a clearly mapped overview. Context DeGrazia is elegantly neutral here. Wanna see him let loose? Read Taking Animals Seriously . Brace yourself...

By J.M. Coetzee • 1999 The Lives of Animals is a metafictional novella about animal rights by the South African novelist J. M. Coetzee, recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. The work is introduced by Amy Gutmann and followed by a collection of responses by Marjorie Garber, Peter Singer, Wendy Doniger and Barbara Smuts. Why it matters Coetzee doesn't tell you what to think. He shows you a woman who has thought deeply about animal suffering and can no longer unsee it

By Sherry Colb & Michael Dorf • 2016 A legal scholar and a constitutional law professor tackle one of the most fraught intersections in ethics: what do abortion rights and animal rights have to do with each other? Colb and Dorf argue that the same moral reasoning that supports abortion rights (bodily autonomy and sentience as the basis for moral consideration) also supports animal rights. Why it matters This book is useful for anyone who wants to think rigorously about cross-

By Sue Donaldson & Will Kymlicka • 2011 A genuinely original contribution to a field that often rehashes the same debates. Donaldson and Kymlicka accept the basic case for animal rights - and then ask: what comes next? Their answer is political theory. They propose a framework where domesticated animals are citizens (with corresponding rights and protections), wild animals are sovereign nations (whose territory we shouldn't invade), and liminal animals (urban wildlife, feral

By Tom Regan • 1983 In this early (now bordering 'vintage') classic, Regan argues that animals have inherent value. Not because of what they can feel, but because "they are the subjects of a life," with desires, memories, and a perspective of their own. This means they have rights that are not overridden by calculations of pleasure and pain. You can't justify harming one animal to benefit others, any more than you can justify harming one human to benefit others. Why it matter

David DeGrazia • 1996 In this rigorously academic follow-up to Animal Rights , DeGrazia argues for "critical anthropomorphism" : taking animal minds seriously by measuring behaviour and biology. The book engages deeply with philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and ethical theory, and builds a coherent ethical framework for moral consideration of non-human animals. Why it matters DeGrazia builds his case from the ground up, addressing sceptics on their own terms. And, while

A young man begins investigating the underworld of "factory farming" and soon discovers a growing political and intellectual movement that considers animals as important as humans. Imdb link Release date: 18 September 2013 Director: Mark Devries Producer: Mark Devries Cinematography: Mark Devries, Alanna Andrews, Alex Melonas Running time: 1h 34m

Philosophers, scientists, artists, and activists provide their insight and opinion on the role of animals in society, and investigate what a post-meat world would mean for the environment. Imdb link Release date: 2017 Director: Marc Pierschel Cinematography: Marc Pierschel, Jeff Wirth Executive producers: Marc Pierschel, Arabella Gais, Holger Recktenwald, Lee Cash Running time: 1h 34m

Between 2013 and 2015, a group of nonprofit attorneys seek nonhuman clients for whom they can advocate in two U.S. territories, in order to establish legal personhood for elephants, cetaceans and nonhuman apes in the U.S. Imdb link Release date: 25 January 2016 Directors: Chris Hegedus, D. A. Pennebaker Producers: Chris Hegedus, Frazer Pennebaker, Rosadel Varela Distributed by: First Run Features Cinematography: Chris Hegedus Running time: 1h 31m