MORAL ORDER: The coming revolution of animal rights
Peter Singer argues that moral systems that expand rights have a natural logic that causes them to win out over their exclusive alternatives. “Rights to me but not to thee” simply doesn’t have much rhetorical power. Could something be similarly unlocked if our moral circle expanded to other species? It could not come a moment too soon. An expanding circle, beyond the frontiers of intelligence or species, may be the only thing that saves us. The human condition has benefitted immensely from civilizations with diverse populations looking beyond religion, race, or creed. The condition of all sentient beings will be similarly transformed if we expand the circle beyond species.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: Technological revolutions drove human beings to become the dominant species on this planet. The Agricultural Revolution gave us dominion over the biology of Earth. The Industrial Revolution gave us dominion over its physics. Now, powered by breakthroughs in our understanding of intelligence, a third revolution may be imminent. It could solve problems that once seemed impossible, like climate change and war. It could trigger transformations in technology that allow us to cure intractable diseases and send humanity to the stars. It could exponentially increase the wisdom of every human being on earth.
[There is… an another] far more important revolution. This is a Moral Revolution — the expansion of ethical consideration to all sentient beings. And if it is realized, it could allow us to harness a tool far more powerful than biology or physics: the collective will of the universe…
It may seem implausible to think we’re on the cusp of such a change. After all, the moral circle seems to be shrinking by the day. Across the world, right-wing movements are successfully mobilizing people to see “others” as “threats.” But if the claim seems dramatic, it’s only because we’re not looking at the right timescale. Over a span of centuries, rather than months or years, progress has been steady in expanding our circle of moral consideration. Consider that a hundred years ago, institutional racism was not just widespread: it was culturally ascendant…
It will be the same when future generations look back on our treatment of animals. Anyone who thinks seriously about it already knows it to be the case. The overwhelming consensus among experts in neuroscience is that animals are conscious, just like us. Every day, a seemingly-unique ability of human intelligence, such as language, is discovered in other animals. And virtually every time a writer or thinker tries to list the ways in which modern society will be condemned by future generations, animal rights is at the top of the list…
But why should we be so confident that future generations will continue to expand the circle? The first reason is philosophical. Peter Singer argues that moral systems that expand rights have a natural logic that causes them to win out over their exclusive alternatives. “Rights to me but not to thee” simply doesn’t have much rhetorical power…
Could something be similarly unlocked if our moral circle expanded to other species? The idea of animals and humans working together might seem like a biblical fantasy… Two species working together can achieve things that each species alone could never hope to achieve. And that is what expanding the circle promises: a world where all animals can direct our will towards the collective good…
It could not come a moment too soon. AI may soon give far more humans on this planet the ability to create powerful technologies such as bioweapons. If we haven’t learned to harness the collective will of sentient beings towards pro-social purposes, one of these humans (or an AI agent) may unleash another calamity… An expanding circle, beyond the frontiers of intelligence or species, may be the only thing that saves us.
It will do much more than that. The human condition has benefitted immensely from civilizations with diverse populations looking beyond religion, race, or creed. The condition of all sentient beings will be similarly transformed if we expand the circle beyond species. WAYNE HSIUNG
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