BiblioVault - Books about Regan, Tom

Animal Sacrifices

edited by Tom Regan, introduction by John Bowker

Temple University Press, 1987

The issues of animal rights and the use of animals in scientific experimentation are fraught with controversy. In an effort to define the bases of such strong emotional response towards an ethical issue, this book presents the teachings of the major religions of the world concerning animals and, more specifically, their use in science. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Confucianism are represented in this collection of eight essays by religious authorities.

Scriptural writings, written and oral tradition, law, religious parables, and even folklore are used to illustrate the position of each religion on this question. When there are no specific teachings regarding the relatively recent use of animals in scientific research, conclusions are derived from the view of man’s relations with the rest of the world.

In addition to the essays dealing with specific religions, there is also a chapter detailing recent uses of animals in scientific research throughout the world. It is estimated that 500 million animals a year are sacrificed to science. This volume attempts to find out for what purposes they are used, under what conditions, and with what legal protection.

Based on a conference which explored the views of religion toward scientific experimentation on animals, this collection of essays addresses an explosive issue from a number of different perspectives. Animal Sacrifices is a fair-minded and informative discussion of a contemporary ethical dilemma.

Contributors: John Bowker, Sidney Gendin, Rabbi Dr. J. David Bleich, Andrew Linzey, James Gaffney, Al-Hafiz, B. Z. Masri, Basant K. Lal, Christopher Chapple, Rodney L. Taylor, and the editor.

[more]

Defending Animal Rights

Tom Regan

University of Illinois Press, 2006

Elements Of Ethics

Tom Regan

Temple University Press, 1991

George Edward Moore is among this century's most influential philosophers. Perhaps best known for his "defense of common sense," he also made important contributions to metaphysics and theory of knowledge. But it is in ethics, and especially owing to the positions he develops in his Principia Ethica, first published in 1903, that his ideas have had their most enduring influence.A forerunner to this famous work, The Elements of Ethics is a series of ten unpublished lectures that were presented by Moore, then in his mid-twenties. The Elements shows that Principia Ethica did not spring fully-formed from Moore's pen but evolved slowly over time. In these lectures, Moore begins with the same question he asks in Principia Ethica: What is Good? Importantly, his answer is the same one he offers in Principia and many of its supporting arguments also appear, though sometimes in embryonic form. Moreover, in these lectures we also find sustained critiques of those who commit the "naturalistic fallacy," and of John Stuart Mill's commission of it in particular.In The Elements, however, Moore's position regarding ethics in relation to conduct differs in important respects from the one presented in Principia, and the former work contains important discussions, ranging from Christian ethics and the possibility of free will, not found in the latter.

[more]