The Animal Rights Debate - (Point/Counterpoint: Philosophers Debate Contemporary Issues) by Carl Cohen & Tom Regan (Paperback)

About the Book

Here, for the first time, the world's two leading authorities--Tom Regan, who argues for animal rights, and Carl Cohen, who argues against them--make their respective case before the public at large. The very terms of the debate will never be the same. This seminal moment in the history of the controversy over animal rights will influence the direction of this debate throughout the rest of the century.

Book Synopsis

Do all animals have rights? Is it morally wrong to use mice or dogs in medical research, or rabbits and cows as food? How ought we resolve conflicts between the interests of humans and those of other animals? Philosophical inquiry is essential in addressing such questions; the answers given must have enormous practical importance. Here for the first time in the same volume, the animal rights debate is argued deeply and fully by the two most articulate and influential philosophers representing the opposing camps. Each makes his case in turn to the opposing case. The arguments meet head on: Are we humans morally justified in using animals as we do? A vexed and enduring controversy here receives its deepest and most eloquent exposition.

Review Quotes

"A fascinating treatise . . . [that] appeals primarily to students and animal rights proponents." --Publishers Weekly

"The volume should be in the library of any school where philosophy is taught or animal research conducted, that is, in nearly every academic library." --Choice Reviews

"Tom Regan is without doubt the world's greatest defender of the rights of animals. Carl Cohen is one of Regan's notable critics. Here, between the pages of a single volume, are important new contributions from each of these authors. The resulting text isrequired reading for everyone interested in this critical issue...." --Gary Comstock, Iowa State University

"The book would make an ideal main text in a seminar on animals, ethics, and science for advanced undergraduate or graduate students in philosophy, biological sciences, experimental psychology, or the health-professions, including veterinary sciences." --Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association

"The book is enormously entertaining, and both writers succeed in making it clear and simple." --Radical Philosophy

"A tour de force of brilliant debate. No other 'seeing the issues from both sides' book comes close to this one in the sustained power of argumentation and in its thorough canvassing of the issues surrounding everything that might be said about the ethical treatment of animals. Quite simply, the best book of its kind." --Sidney Gendin, Eastern Michigan University

"Tom Regan is without doubt the world's greatest defender of the rights of animals. Carl Cohen is one of Regan's notable critics. Here, between the pages of a single volume, are important new contributions from each of these authors. The resulting text is required reading for everyone interested in this
critical issue." --Gary Comstock, Iowa State University

"The two [Cohen and Regan] argue vigorously and write clearly, producing an engaging, accessible book." --Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy

About the Author

Carl Cohen is professor of philosophy at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tom Regan is professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.