Muscular Morality

Abstract

This three-part essay discusses the sort of pragmatic, common-practice based animal liberation philosophy engagingly developed and successfully practiced by Bernard Rollin for many decades. Part I discusses the reasoning involved in holding both of the following beliefs: first, the value of animals’ lives and experiences is not limited to their usefulness for satisfying human interests; there is also the value their experiences and lives have for the animals themselves. Second, it is morally permissible for us routinely to sacrifice their interests in using animals to satisfy human needs and wants. Part II discusses why that reasoning is seldom questioned, and part III suggests some lessons that infrequency holds for animal liberation.