Three More Books

Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (The Tanner Lectures on Human Values) by Martha C. Nussbaum
Theories of social justice are necessarily abstract, reaching beyond the particular and the immediate to the general and the timeless. Yet such theories, addressing the world and its problems, must respond to the real and changing dilemmas of the day. A brilliant work of practical philosophy, Frontiers of Justice is dedicated to this proposition. Taking up three urgent problems of social justice neglected by current theories and thus harder to tackle in practical terms and everyday life, Martha Nussbaum seeks a theory of social justice that can guide us to a richer, more responsive approach to social cooperation.
The idea of the social contract--especially as developed in the work of John Rawls--is one of the most powerful approaches to social justice in the Western tradition. But as Nussbaum demonstrates, even Rawls's theory, suggesting a contract for mutual advantage among approximate equals, cannot address questions of social justice posed by unequal parties. How, for instance, can we extend the equal rights of citizenship--education, health care, political rights and liberties--to those with physical and mental disabilities? How can we extend justice and dignified life conditions to all citizens of the world? And how, finally, can we bring our treatment of nonhuman animals into our notions of social justice? Exploring the limitations of the social contract in these three areas, Nussbaum devises an alternative theory based on the idea of "capabilities." She helps us to think more clearly about the purposes of political cooperation and the nature of political principles--and to look to a future of greater justice for all.

Even More Books

Animal Minds and Human Morals: The Origins of the Western Debate (Cornell Studies in Classical Philology-Townsend Lectures , No 54)
by Richard Sorabji
"[Sorabji] starts . . . by examining philosophical treatments of animals in ancient Greece. From there he goes on to current thinking and argues that the animal rights movement is philosophically incoherent. His philosophical analysis is so thorough that anyone who's thinking about these issues has an obligation to read this book."--Vicki Hearne, Lingua Franca

More Books

Some additions to our book list.  As always, books both are included from across the spectrum of the animal liberation debate.  Books on animal liberation theology are included along with secular works.

On Their Own Terms: Bringing Animal Rights Philosophy Down to Earth
by Lee Hall
Sensing the need for fresh ideas in advocacy, and the importance of making animal-rights theory relevant in a time of biotechnology, rapid extinctions and climate change, On Their Own Terms: Bringing Animal-Rights Philosophy Down to Earth challenges us to think of ourselves and other conscious beings in new ways. This book takes the creative and necessary step of calling for a merging of ecological awareness and animal advocacy. It asks us to imagine and appreciate the dignity of free communities of animals thriving in their habitats.

On the Side of the Animals (part of our next reading selection)

On the Side of the Animals
by RSPCA

Introduction
This booklet is complementary to the RSPCA leaflet Ethical Concerns for Animals. It is a collection of short essays by contemporary philosophers who take a pro-animal stance and who have helped to bring about more sympathetic attitudes towards animals in Western society. Together, these philosophers have provided an academic basis for the disquiet about animal cruelty which has been growing for at least two centuries.

From the Early Days of the World Wide Web...

In the beginning, there was Donald Graft's Animal Rights Resource Site.  Before every animal group everywhere had their own website, ARRS was the one central websource for animal rights info.  After the cut are the essays from ARRS's Animal Rights Theory and Philosophy Section, courtesy of Archive.org's Wayback Machine:

A blog of interest

http://animalethics.blogspot.com/

The Origins of Specieisism by Hugh Lafollette

http://www.hughlafollette.com/papers/SPECIES.HTM