Zack Beauchamp interviews philosopher Will Kymlicka:
ZB: So what’s wrong with just saying we’ll take a number of steps to protect animal rights without going so far as to declare them citizens?
WK: As I’ve said, the core of our theory is the idea of membership. It’s a rich concept if you think about it seriously: it’s the idea that domestic animals belong here. It’s where we disagree with one strain of animal rights theory, which says we should extinguish domesticated animals because it was a mistake ever to bring them in.
We need to create a shared interspecies society which is responsive to the interests of both its human and animal members. That means that it’s not just a question of how you ensure that animals aren’t abused. If we view them as members of society — it’s as much their society as ours — then it changes the perspective 180 degrees. The question is no longer “how do we make sure they’re not so badly treated?” We instead need to ask “what kind of relationships do they want to have with us?”
That’s really a radical question. It’s one we’ve never really bothered to ask. I think there are some domesticated animals that enjoy activities with us — I think that’s clearest in the case of dogs, but it’s also true of other domesticated animals whose lives are enriched by being part of interspecies activities with us. But there are other animals who, if we took what they wanted seriously, would probably choose to have less and less to do with us. I think this would be true of horses.
(Photo by Flickr user alaindemour)
The Dish 