Animal liberation by Peter Singer

This book, written in the 1970s is a well-structured account of the arguments for animal liberation. Singer's arguments are put forward in a way that starts on a premise that the majority of people would agree with. Arguments are then set out which clearly lead to conclusions that are not perhaps as well-regarded. Singer's philosophy is flawless and his arguments are convincing.

Singer has written a more recent book which I plan on reading when I get the chance. The only complaint I would have about this first book is that much of the evidence it uses is now vastly outdated and it's hard to tell what is still in use and what is not. Moreover, there has been a huge boom in factory farming in recent years which would possibly make many of his arguments even stronger. I look forward to reading his most recent book where I would assume newer evidence has been used.

The main argument Singer uses in this book is that of Jeremy Bentham, that is: "can it suffer?" Singer offers ample evidence of the pain that animals clearly feel being kept in cramped cages, being branded as a farming procedure, untreated injuries and a lot more. He asks why we are willing to inflict such pain on animals when we would not do so ethically on humans. He labels this speciecism, forcing us to confront that we base this strange ethic on nothing other than the fact that these animals are different species than us.

I highly recommend this book. Even though I would not go quite as far as Singer in some respects, I think he puts forward an argument that is persuasive and difficult to ignore.