Animals and Us: Impossible to maintain moral blindness to the way we treat them

The June 4-10 edition of The New Scientist (on stands now) has an extraordinary 12 page spread, including eight separate articles under the heading "Animals and Us." The lead article, headed "Forward to the animal revolution" sets the tone for the spread. It goes through the various uses of animals, and how human society has been dependent on them. Then it asks:

"Why all the fuss? What's wrong with the way we interact with animals at the moment? Nothing, if you don't accept that animals have their own feelings and emotions, or accept it but still don't care. But if you do care, then you will realize that the moral relationship we have with animals is deeply troubled. It becomes impossible to maintain moral blindness to the way we treat them."

You'll find that lead article on line at: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18625025.700

I call the spread extraordinary as the line-up of articles is one you might expect in an animal protection magazine, not a mainstream scientific publication. Perhaps most notable is one by Professor Gary Francione headed "You Hypocrites!" and sub-headed, "By granting that animals have minds similar to ours, it looks as if we are evolving in our moral relationships with other species. Don't be fooled." He argues that whether or not other animals have human-like minds is not relevant to our exploitation of them, and ends his essay with the Jeremy Bentham quote, "The question is not, can they reason, nor can they talk, but can they suffer." (Pg 51.)

There is an interview with Jane Goodall, headed "Close Encounters" (Pg 46) which you can read on line at http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18625025.900

The other articles are:
-- "It's a dog's life" by Ian Duncan, about testing animal sentience and preferences (Pg 45)
-- "Suspicious minds" by Frans de Waal, which discusses what he calls "anthrodenial," which is "blindness to the human-like characteristics of other animals and to our own animal-like characteristics. (Pg 48)
--- "Me and my pet" by Lucy Middleton, about the intimate relationships people have with their companion animals. (Pg 49)
--- "Practical passions" by Alison George, on Temple Grandin's work to reform slaughterhouses (Pg 50) AND
-- "Of Burns and bats," by philosopher Simon Blackburn, sub-headed "What if we can never understand the inner world of other animals? Where does that leave our relationship with them?" (pg 53.)

I thoroughly enjoyed the spread and recommend picking up the magazine. And please send an appreciative letter to the editor. The New Scientist takes letters at letters [at] newscientist.com and advises, "Include your address and telephone numbers, and a reference (issue, page number, title) to articles. We reserve the right to edit letters."


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