Animal Liberation by Peter Singer

Introduction

In 'Animal Liberation', Peter Singer, renowned author of books on animal ethics and graduate of the
Universty of Melbourne and Oxford University, reviews the book 'Animals, Men and Morals' , edited
by Stanley and Eoslind Godlovitch and John Harris. The article was originally in the New York Review
of Books (April 5, 1973) and argues for the launch of an 'Animal Liberation' movement that would
'demand that we cease to regard the exploitation of other species as natural and inevitable' (par. 3). He
points out that animals can suffer as much as humans and that being indifferent to their pain can be
viewed as 'speciesism', 'the belief we are entitled to treat members of other species in a way in which it
would be wrong to treat member of our own species' (par. 18). This in turn leads to cruel practices
against non-humans such as factory farming, cosmetic experimenting and vivesection. According to
Singer, changing the way we view non-humans and our attitudes toward them is both correct and
morally pressing. His readers are probably well-informed and educated since they are reading a
newspaper specialized in books. Moreover, they likely view themselves as benevolent toward animals
although they might be skeptical about considering them as equal to humans. Singer, therefore, tackles
objections they could raise about 'speciesim' with sound use of logic and emotional appeal, which,
despite some flaws, make his argument both persuasive and successful.