**Historical Perspectives on Speciesism:**
– Buffon, Voltaire, Gompertz, Darwin, and Schopenhauer questioned human-animal similarities.
– Evolution of thoughts challenging anthropocentrism in Christianity and Judaism.
**Philosophical Debate on Speciesism:**
– Richard Ryder’s definition of speciesism and its implications.
– Correlation between supporting animal exploitation and other prejudicial views.
– Notable proponents and critics of speciesism.
**Impacts of Speciesism on Society:**
– Influence on practices like factory farming and animal experimentation.
– Justification of inequality and oppression systems.
– Prevalence in modern society leading to animal exploitation and categorization.
**Ethical Considerations and Debates:**
– Differential treatment and discrimination based on species membership.
– Ethical debates surrounding animal treatment and the concept of speciesism in academia.
– Notable figures advocating for animal rights and against speciesism.
**Evolution of Ethics and Comparison to Racism/Sexism:**
– Advocacy for ethical consideration of all sentient beings and the application of the Golden Rule.
– Comparison of speciesism to racism and sexism, emphasizing the need to abhor speciesism.
– Call for ethical evolution towards zoocentricism and the logical inconsistency in inflicting suffering on innocent beings.
Speciesism (/ˈspiːʃiːˌzɪzəm, -siːˌzɪz-/) is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions within the relevant literature. Some sources specifically define speciesism as discrimination or unjustified treatment based on an individual's species membership, while other sources define it as differential treatment without regard to whether the treatment is justified or not. Richard Ryder, who coined the term, defined it as "a prejudice or attitude of bias in favour of the interests of members of one's own species and against those of members of other species." Speciesism results in the belief that humans have the right to use non-human animals, which scholars say is pervasive in the modern society. Studies from 2015 and 2019 suggest that people who support animal exploitation also tend to endorse racist, sexist, and other prejudicial views, which furthers the beliefs in human supremacy and group dominance to justify systems of inequality and oppression.
As a term, speciesism first appeared during a protest against animal experimentation in 1970. Philosophers and animal rights advocates state that speciesism plays a role in the animal–industrial complex, including in the practice of factory farming, animal slaughter, blood sports (such as bullfighting and rodeos), the taking of animals' fur and skin, and experimentation on animals, as well as the refusal to help animals suffering in the wild due to natural processes and the categorization of certain animals as invasive, then killing them based on that classification.
Notable proponents of the concept include Peter Singer, Oscar Horta, Steven M. Wise, Gary L. Francione, Melanie Joy, David Nibert, Steven Best and Ingrid Newkirk. Among academics, the ethics, morality, and concept of speciesism has been the subject of substantial philosophical debate. Carl Cohen, Nel Noddings, Bernard Williams, Peter Staudenmaier, Christopher Grau, Douglas Maclean, Roger Scruton, Thomas Wells, and Robert Nozick have criticized the term or elements of it.