Gary Lawrence Francione (born 1954) is an American legal scholar. He is the Distinguished Professor of Law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law & Philosophy at Rutgers School of Law-Newark.[1]

Francione is known for his work on animal rights Animal rights, also referred to as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings. Advocates approach the issue from different philosophical positions, but agree that animals should be viewed as non-human persons and members of the theory, and was the first academic to teach it in an American law school.[2] His work has focused on three issues: (1) the property status of animals, (2) the differences between animal rights and animal welfare, and (3) a theory of animal rights based on sentience Sentience is the ability to feel or perceive. The term is used in science and philosophy, and in the study of artificial intelligence. Sentience is used in the study of consciousness to describe the ability to have sensations or experiences, known to Western philosophers as "qualia". In eastern philosophy, sentience is a metaphysical alone, rather than on any particular characteristics.

He is a pioneer of the abolitionist theory of animal rights Abolitionism within the animal rights movement is the idea that the legal ownership of nonhuman animals is unjust, and that it must be abolished before animal suffering can be substantially reduced. The abolitionist position is that focusing on animal welfare not only fails to challenge animal suffering, but may actually prolong it by making the, arguing that animal welfare Animal welfare is the physical and psychological state of non-human animals. The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights regulation is theoretically and practically unsound, serving only to prolong the status of animals as property by making the public feel comfortable about using them.[3] He argues that non-human animals require only one right: the right not to be regarded as property,[4] and that the moral baseline of the abolitionist approach is veganism Veganism is a philosophy and lifestyle whose adherents seek to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind. The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are human health, ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights or welfare, the, the rejection of the use of all animal products. Francione accepts the tenets of Jainism Jainism is an ancient religion of India that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to progress the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state of supreme being is called Jina (, and particularly the Jaina doctrine of non-violence, or Ahimsa Ahimsa is a term meaning to do no harm (literally: the avoidance of violence - himsa). It is an important tenet of the Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism and especially Jainism). Ahimsa is a rule of conduct that bars the killing or injuring of living beings. It is closely connected with the notion that all kinds of violence entail negative, linking it to veganism and animal rights.[5]

Francione is the author of Animals as Persons: Essays on the Abolition of Animal Exploitation (2008); Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? (2000); Animals, Property, and the Law (1995); Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement (1996); and, with Anna E. Charlton, Vivisection and Dissection in the Classroom: A Guide to Conscientious Objection (1992). He has also written papers on copyright, patent law, and law and science.

Contents

Background

Francione graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university located in Rochester, New York. The University grants undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and professional degrees through six schools and various interdisciplinary programs. The University is home to several noted schools and programs, including the number one ranked, where he was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa O'Hearn Scholarship, allowing him to pursue graduate study in philosophy in the UK. He received his M.A. in philosophy and his J.D. from the University of Virginia The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson. Conceived by 1800 and established in 1819, it is the only university in the United States to be designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, an honor it shares with nearby Monticello. The University of Virginia is one of the, where he was articles editor of the Virginia Law Review.[1] After graduation, he clerked A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court for Judge Albert Tate, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court.

After practising law at the New York firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is a prominent American law firm based in New York City, with an additional office in London. The second oldest firm in the country, Cravath was founded in 1819 and consistently ranks first among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of partners, he joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and is one of several institutions that claims to have been the first university in America. Penn is a member of the Ivy League and is one of the Colonial Law School in 1984 and received tenure in 1987. He began to teach animal rights theory as part of his course in jurisprudence Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions. Modern jurisprudence began in the 18th century and was focused on the first principles of the natural law, civil law, and the law in 1985. In 1989, he joined the Rutgers faculty, and in 1990, he and his colleague Anna E. Charlton started the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Project, in which law students were awarded academic credit for working on actual cases involving animals. Francione and Charlton closed the clinic in 2000, but continue to teach courses in animal rights theory, animals and the law, and human rights and animal rights. Francione also teaches criminal law, criminal procedure, and legal philosophy.[1]

Animal rights theory

Property status of animals

In Animals, Property, and the Law (1995), Francione argues that because animals are the property of humans, laws that supposedly require their “humane” treatment and prohibit the infliction of “unnecessary” harm do not provide any significant level of protection for animal interests. For the most part, these laws and regulations require only that animals receive that level of protection that is required for their use as human property Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of persons. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property has the right to consume, sell, rent, mortgage, transfer, exchange or destroy their property, and/or to exclude others from doing these things. Important widely recognized types of. Animals only have values as commodities and their interests do no matter in any moral sense. As a result, despite having laws that supposedly protect animals, Francione contends that we treat animals in ways that would be regarded as torture if humans were involved. Lastly, Francione states that we could provide greater protection to animals even if they remain our property, but legal, social, and economic forces militate strongly against recognizing animal interests unless there is an economic benefit for humans.

Comparison of animal rights and animal welfare

Further information: Abolitionism (animal rights) Abolitionism within the animal rights movement is the idea that the legal ownership of nonhuman animals is unjust, and that it must be abolished before animal suffering can be substantially reduced. The abolitionist position is that focusing on animal welfare not only fails to challenge animal suffering, but may actually prolong it by making the

In Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement (1996), Francione argues that there are significant theoretical and practical differences between animal rights, which he maintains requires the abolition of animal exploitation In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for the benefit of others. This corresponds to one ethical conception of exploitation, that is, the treatment of human beings as mere means to an end—or as mere "objects", and animal welfare, which seeks to regulate exploitation to make it more humane. Francione contends that the theoretical difference between these two approaches is obvious. The abolitionist position is that we cannot justify our use of nonhumans however “humanely” we treat animals; the regulationist position is that animal use is justifiable and that only issues of treatment are relevant.

Francione describes as “new welfarists” those who claim to support animal rights, but who support animal welfare regulation as the primary way to achieve incremental recognition of the inherent value of nonhumans. He argues that there is no factual support for this position because not only do regulations seldom if ever go beyond treating animals as economic commodities with only extrinsic value, but the perception that regulation has improved the “humane” treatment of animals may very well facilitate continued and increased exploitation by making the public feel more comfortable about its consumption of animal products.

A central tenet of Francione’s philosophy is that the most important form of incremental change within the abolitionist framework is veganism Veganism is a philosophy and lifestyle whose adherents seek to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind. The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are human health, ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights or welfare, the. Francione has also long argued that the animal rights movement is the logical extension of the peace movement and should embrace a non-violent approach. He maintains that an abolitionist/vegan movement is truly radical and that violence is reactionary.

In 2008, Dr Jenia Meng found scientific evidence that the observed difference between animal welfare and animal rights originated from two fundamentally different sources of attitudes towards animals: (1) attitudes towards suffering; and (2) reverence for animals. Her evidence was based on statistically analyzing of over 4500 survey questionnaires received from 12 nations. She also created two indices, JM Welfare Index and JM Rights Index, to evaluate people's attitudes towards animal welfare and animal rights.[6][7]

Relevance of sentience

In his Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? (2000), Francione argues that a theory of abolition should not require that animals have any cognitive characteristic beyond sentience to be full members of the moral community, entitled to the basic, pre-legal right not to be the property of humans. He rejects the position that animals have to have humanlike cognitive characteristics, such as reflective self-awareness, language ability, or preference autonomy in order to have the right not to be used as human resources. Francione derives this right from the principle of equal consideration in that he maintains that if animals are property, their interests can never receive equal consideration.

As part of this discussion, Francione identifies what he calls our “moral schizophrenia” when it comes to nonhumans. On the one hand, we say that we take animal interests seriously. Francione points to the fact that many of us even live with nonhuman companions whom we regard as members of our families and whose personhood—their status as beings with intrinsic moral value—we do not doubt for a second. On the other hand, because animals are property, they remain things that have no value other than what we choose to accord them and whose interests we protect only when it provides a benefit—usually economic—to do so. According to Francione, if animals are going to matter morally and not be things, we cannot treat them as property.

Animal rights movement

Further information: Animal liberation movement The animal liberation movement, sometimes called the animal rights movement, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a global movement with roughly three components: philosophical debate, legal development, and direct action. The movement seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human beings, an

Francione’s position differs significantly from that of Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher. He is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and laureate professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE), University of Melbourne. He specialises in applied ethics, approaching ethical issues from a secular preference utilitarian, author of Animal Liberation (1975). Singer, who is a utilitarian Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its utility in providing happiness or pleasure as summed among all sentient beings. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome. The most influential contributors to this ideology were Jeremy, rejects moral rights as a general matter and regards sentience Sentience is the ability to feel or perceive. The term is used in science and philosophy, and in the study of artificial intelligence. Sentience is used in the study of consciousness to describe the ability to have sensations or experiences, known to Western philosophers as "qualia". In eastern philosophy, sentience is a metaphysical as sufficient for moral status. Singer maintains that some animals do not care about whether we kill them and use them for our purposes, but care only about how we treat them when we do use and kill them. Therefore, animal use in itself does not raise a moral problem for Singer. In Francione’s view, the fact that a being is sentient necessarily means that the being has an interest in continued existence and he rejects the view that animals do not have an interest in whether we use them but only in how we use them.

Francione’s approach also differs from that of Tom Regan Tom Regan is an American philosopher who specializes in animal rights theory. He was professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, where he taught from 1967 until his retirement in 2001, author of The Case for Animal Rights (1983). Regan proposes an abolitionist theory but limits it to animals that have cognitive characteristics that go beyond sentience alone. Moreover, although Regan maintains that there is no acceptable way to distinguish between humans and animals for purposes of treating animals exclusively as means to human ends, he maintains that death is always a greater harm for humans than for nonhumans. According to Francione, although Regan distances himself from Singer’s position, this aspect of his theory is uncomfortably close to Singer’s view that death in itself is not a harm for most nonhumans. If Regan is correct, then there is a qualitative distinction between humans and animals that can serve as a way of distinguishing between them for moral purposes. Francione maintains that Regan, like Singer, is wrong in this respect. Francione argues that we may not understand what death means to a nonhuman, but that is a matter of our epistemological Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge. It addresses the questions: limitations. Our inability to understand the meaning of death to nonhumans does not mean that a sentient nonhuman has no interest in continued existence.

Francione’s theory of animal rights, particularly his views on animal welfare, is criticized by some sections of the animal protection movement, who argue that animal welfare does provide meaningful protection for animal interests. Moreover, many within the animal protection community maintain that certain animals, such as the great apes or dolphins, ought to receive greater protection based only on their cognitive similarity to humans—the so-called "similar minds position"—a position Francione has opposed:

I certainly agree that it is wrong to use nonhuman great apes in research or in circuses, or to confine them in zoos, or to use them for any other purpose. But I reject what I call the "similar minds" position that links the moral status of nonhumans to their possession of humanlike cognitive characteristics. The exploitation of the nonhuman great apes is immoral for the same reason that is immoral to exploit the hundreds of millions of mice and rats who are routinely exploited in laboratories or the billions of nonhumans who we kill and eat: the nonhuman great apes and all of these other nonhumans are, like us, sentient. They are conscious; they are subjectively aware; they have interests; they can suffer. No characteristic other than sentience is required for personhood."[8]

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Gary L. Francione", Rutgers School of Law Newark, accessed February 25, 2008.
  2. ^ Francione, Gary (2008). Animals as Persons: Essays on the Abolition of Animal Exploitation. Columbia University Press, back cover.
  3. ^ Hall, Lee. "An Interview with Professor Gary L. Francione", Friends of Animals, accessed February 25, 2008.
  4. ^ Francione, Gary. Rain Without thunder: the Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement, 1996.
  5. ^ Francione, Gary. "Ahimsa and Veganism", Jain Digest, Winter 2009, pp. 9–10.
  6. ^ Meng, Jenia (2009). "JM Welfare Index and JM Rights Index". http://jmeng.goodeasy.info/AnimalWelfareIndexAnimalRightsIndex/.
  7. ^ Meng, Jenia (2009). "Abstract of 'Origins of Attitudes towards Animals'". http://jmeng.goodeasy.info/publications/OriginsOfAttitudesTowardsAnimals_Abstract.pdf.
  8. ^ Francione, Gary (2006). "The Great Ape Project: Not so Great", Animal Rights: the Abolitionist Approach, accessed June 23, 2009.

External links

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Animal rights Animal rights, also referred to as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings. Advocates approach the issue from different philosophical positions, but agree that animals should be viewed as non-human persons and members of the
Activists Greg Avery Films, magazines, books · David Barbarash David Barbarash was the North American press officer for the Animal Liberation Front from mid-1999 until late-2002. The ALF press office in the UK is run by Robin Webb. Barbarash also founded the North American Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group in Toronto in the early 1980s · Mel Broughton Mel Broughton is a British landscape gardener who has risen to public prominence as one of the UK's most notable animal rights advocates. He was the co-founder in 2004, with Robert Cogswell, of SPEAK, The Voice for the Animals, a campaign to stop animal testing in Britain, which is focused on opposition to a new animal laboratory at Oxford · Rod Coronado Rodney Adam Coronado is a Native American (Pascua Yaqui) eco-anarchist and animal rights activist. He is an advocate and former activist for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front. He was a crew member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and a member of the editorial collective of the Earth First! · Barry Horne Barry Horne was an English animal rights activist. He became known around the world in December 1998, when he engaged in a 68-day hunger strike in an effort to persuade the British government to hold a public inquiry into animal testing, something the Labour Party had said it would do before it came to power in 1997. The hunger strike took place · Ronnie Lee Ronnie Lee is a British animal rights activist. He is known primarily for having founded the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) in 1976. He also founded the magazine Arkangel in 1989 · Keith Mann Keith Mann is a British animal rights campaigner and writer, alleged by police to be "at the top of the Animal Liberation Front pyramid." He is the author of From Dusk 'til Dawn: An Insider's View of the Growth of the Animal Liberation Movement · Ingrid Newkirk Ingrid Newkirk is a British-born animal rights activist and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), the world's largest animal rights organization. She is the author of several books, including Free the Animals (2000) and Making Kind Choices (2005) · Heather Nicholson She is best known for having co-founded three pivotal animal rights campaigns in the UK. In 1997, Consort Kennels in Hereford, which bred beagles for animal-testing labs, was closed after a ten-month campaign. In 1999, Save the Hill Grove Cats closed Hill Grove Farm in Oxfordshire, which bred cats for laboratories, after a two-year campaign. In · Jill Phipps Jill Phipps was a British animal rights activist who was crushed to death by a lorry transporting live veal calves to continental Europe · Craig Rosebraugh Craig Rosebraugh is a writer and political activist who has been associated with the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), and who has served as a spokesman for both groups' press offices · Henry Spira Films, magazines, books · Andrew Tyler Andrew Tyler is the director of Animal Aid, the UK's second largest animal rights organization . Tyler has been an animal rights campaigner and journalist for 30 years · Jerry Vlasak Jerry Vlasak is an American trauma surgeon and animal rights activist. He is a press officer for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, a former director of the Animal Defense League of Los Angeles, and an advisor to SPEAK, the Voice for the Animals · Paul Watson Paul Franklin Watson, is a Canadian animal rights and environmental activist. He is the founder and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group devoted to marine conservation · Robin Webb Robin Webb is an English animal rights activist. He is a former member of the ruling council of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), and former director of Animal Aid. A British court ruled in 2006 that Webb was a "central and pivotal figure" in the Animal Liberation Front (ALF)
Writers Carol Adams Carol J. Adams is a vegan feminist theorist and author of books on eco-feminism and the links between species oppression and gender oppression · Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism. He is best known for his advocacy of utilitarianism and animal rights, and the idea of the panopticon · Steven Best Steven Best is an American animal rights activist, author, talk-show host, and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso. He has been described as "one of the leading scholarly voices on animal rights." · Stephen R.L. Clark Stephen Richard Lyster Clark is a British philosopher and international authority on animal rights, currently professor of philosophy at the University of Liverpool · Gary Francione · Gill Langley Gillian Rose Langley is a British scientist and writer who specialises in alternatives to animal testing, animal rights and animal protection issues in relation to the use of animals in research. She is the science director of the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research, the UK's leading non-animal medical research charity, a former member of the · Mary Midgley Mary Midgley, née Scrutton , is an English moral philosopher. She was a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Newcastle University and is known for her work on science, ethics and animal rights. She wrote her first book, Beast And Man: The Roots of Human Nature (1978), when she was in her fifties. It was followed by several others, including Heart and · Tom Regan Tom Regan is an American philosopher who specializes in animal rights theory. He was professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, where he taught from 1967 until his retirement in 2001 · Bernard Rollin Bernard E. Rollin is an American philosopher who specializes in animal rights and animal consciousness. He is a professor of philosophy, animal sciences, and biomedical sciences at Colorado State University · Richard D. Ryder · Henry Salt · Peter Singer · Steven M. Wise · Roger Yates
Groups Animal Aid · Animal Legal Defense Fund · Animal Liberation Brigade · Animal Liberation Front · Animal Liberation Press Office · Animal Rights Militia · BUAV · CAFT · Friends of Animals · Great Ape Project · Justice Department · PETA · Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine · Primate Freedom Project · Sea Shepherd · SPEAK · SHAC
Issues Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act · Animal rights · Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act · Animal testing · Bile bear · Blood sport · Covance · Factory farming · Fur trade · Great ape research ban · Green Scare · Huntingdon Life Sciences · International trade in primates · Meat industry · Nafovanny · Open rescue · Operation Backfire · Pain and suffering in laboratory animals · Seal hunting · Speciesism · Testing on NHPs · Veganarchism · Veganism · Vegetarianism
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