Beyond Prejudice The Moral Significance of Human and Nonhuman Animals

Description:

Pluhar defends the view that any sentient being--one capable of caring about what happens to him or herself--is morally significant, a view that supports the moral status and rights of many nonhuman animals. Confronting traditional and contemporary philosophical arguments, she offers in clear and accessible fashion a thorough examination of theories of moral significance while decisively demonstrating the flaws in the arguments of those who would avoid attributing moral rights to nonhumans.

Selected Reviews:

"Evelyn Pluhar has pushed this debate to the next level, challenging her readers to refute her arguments or to change their attitudes. She is moved as much a passion for reason as by the plight of animals; and indeed it is the sheer irrationality of conventional attitudes toward animals that strikes some as humanity's worst moral failing."

--Colin McGinn, New Republic