Political objections
What each ethical or political theory usually says to leave animals out, and why that exclusion contradicts the theory's own principle.
Every ethical or political theory starts from a principle: protect individual freedom, end exploitation, reduce suffering, treat like cases alike, care for the vulnerable. For most of history, these theories applied their principle only to humans. This section gathers the objections that usually come from each of them and shows why excluding animals does not follow from the principle, but from a cut made before it. The point is not that every theory says the same thing, but that none of them offers, on its own terms, a reason to leave out those who can be harmed.
"Freedom is a right of rational individuals; animals aren't subjects of liberal rights."
Protect individuals against harm caused by others and ensure each can live their own life. For Mill, the only legitimate reason to limit someone's freedom is to prevent harm to others.
Libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism"What's mine is mine: animals are property, and the freedom to use property is sacred."
Self-ownership and the non-aggression principle: no one may initiate violence against another individual.
Marxism, socialism and communism"Exploitation is a relation between human classes. Animals aren't workers, and the struggle is a different one."
End exploitation and the turning of beings and lives into commodities.
Anarchism"Anarchism fights domination between people; animals are not part of that."
Reject hierarchies and forms of domination that cannot be justified.
Utilitarianism"Human pleasures are worth more: better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied."
Maximize well-being and minimize suffering for everyone affected, counting each one's interest equally.
Contractualism and Rawlsian justice"Justice holds among those who have a sense of justice and can make agreements."
Choose the rules of a society impartially, as if we did not know what position we would occupy in it.
Deontology and Kantianism"Only rational beings are ends in themselves; toward animals we have, at most, indirect duties."
Treat beings who have value of their own as ends, and never merely as means.
Communitarianism"Duties arise from the community and its traditions, and animals are not members of it."
Morality is built in the bonds and practices of a community.
Egalitarianism and prioritarianism"Equality is among human citizens; animals belong to another category."
Reduce unjust inequalities and give priority to those who are worst off.
Ethics of care"Care applies to close relationships, not to unknown animals."
Respond to the needs of the vulnerable and the dependent with attention and responsibility.
Virtue ethics"Virtue is about human character; treating animals well matters only because it makes us better."
Cultivate virtues like compassion, justice and temperance, and avoid vices like cruelty.
Feminism"Feminism is about women; talking about cows and hens is changing the subject, or even offensive."
End oppression linked to sex and control over the body and reproduction.
Anti-racism, anti-ableism and the fight against other discrimination"Comparing speciesism to racism or ableism is offensive; they are different things."
Do not give less weight to someone's interests because of a trait that does not change how much they can be harmed, such as race, disability, origin or appearance.
The progressive left and multiculturalism"The animal cause is a white middle-class concern that ends up attacking the cultural practices of minorities."
Defend vulnerable groups, fight domination and respect cultural diversity.
Pacifism and nonviolence"Nonviolence is a commitment between people, not to animals."
Refuse violence as a means of resolving conflicts and reaching goals.
Effective altruism"Resources for doing good are limited, and should go to humans first."
Use evidence and reason to do the most good possible with the resources available.
The section draws on the book An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory, by Alasdair Cochrane, the article Animal Rights, Multiculturalism, and the Left, by Will Kymlicka and Sue Donaldson, and two essays by Julio Cesar Prava, revised: the claims were checked and the analogies adjusted so as not to say more than the evidence allows.