Leonardo Da Vinci ( ), artist and scientist “The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men.” Who developed the “animal rights” philosophy? The theory of the 'universal kinship' of man and other creatures was taught by Buddha, Pythagoras and Plutarch. Other contributors:

1. “The question is not – ‘Can they reason?’ nor ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?’” 2. “The day may come when the rest of animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them except by the hand of tyranny.” Jeremy Bentham ( )

Abraham Lincoln, , 16 th US President “I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.” “You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, , author

Leo Tolstoy, author, "What I think about vivisection is that if people admit that they have the right to take or endanger the life of living beings for the benefit of many, there will be no limit to their cruelty.” “I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't....The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further.” Mark Twain, author,

Mahatma Gandhi, statesman and philosopher, “To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.” “Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.” Thomas Edison, inventor,

1. “If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth--beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals--would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?” 2. “Atrocities are not less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are call medical research.” George Bernard Shaw, author,

Albert Schweitzer ( ) “By reason of the quite universal idea of participation in a common nature, it is compelled to declare the unity of mankind with all created beings.”

2. “It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.” 1. “Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” Albert Einstein, , physicist

“[The day should come when] all of the forms of life...will stand before the court--the pileated woodpecker as well as the coyote and bear, the lemmings as well as the trout in the streams.” William O. Douglas, , U.S. Supreme Court Justice

1. “People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times.” Isaac Bashevis Singer, , author, Nobel Prize 1978

2. “In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought.” Isaac Bashevis Singer, , author, Nobel Prize 1978

Peter Singer (1946- ), Princeton Prof. “If a being suffers, there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration. No matter what the nature of the being, the principle of equality requires that its suffering be counted equally with the like suffering of any other being.”

Tom Regan, NC State Professor “Animals, it is true, lack many of the abilities humans possess. They can't read, do higher maths, build a bookcase or make baba ghanoush. Neither can many humans, and yet we don't (and shouldn't) say that they therefore have less inherent value, less of a right to be treated with respect, than do others.”

So, the question is whether it is morally ok to harm animals – by way of causing pain and suffering. Common view: yes. Great thinkers argue: no.

Evolution of “Rights”