Speciesism: Why It Is Wrong and the Implications of Rejecting It

Written by Magnus Vinding

Narrated by Kevin Theis

What can justify discrimination against other sentient beings?

In this book, Magnus Vinding explores the issue of species discrimination. He argues that speciesism — discrimination based on species membership — is unjustifiable, and proceeds to examine the practical implications of this conclusion. This examination reveals more than a few ways in which our behavior and attitudes need to change profoundly.

"Most people agree that discriminating against someone on the basis of gender, sex or skin color is morally objectionable, but what about species membership? Speciesism: Why It Is Wrong and the Implications of Rejecting It makes a compelling case that this form of discrimination has no justification either, and addresses the most significant implications. These include both the rejection of animal exploitation and the rejection of the idea that we have no reason to help nonhuman animals in need of aid, including when they are suffering in the wild for natural reasons. This book is likely to challenge many of our assumptions, and will encourage us to think deeper about the moral consideration of nonhuman animals."

— Oscar Horta, professor of moral philosophy at University of Santiago de Compostela, author of Making a Stand for Animals

"Humans hurt, harm and kill billions of sentient beings. We routinely treat nonhuman animals in ways that would earn the perpetrators a life sentence in prison if the victims were humans of comparable sentience. Magnus Vinding makes a compelling case for a moral revolution in human behaviour toward nonhuman individuals. Highly recommended."

— David Pearce, author of The Hedonistic Imperative and Can Biotechnology Abolish Suffering?

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Neuroethics Foundation
• Release date: Jun 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781987164787

Magnus Vinding

Magnus Vinding is the author of Speciesism: Why It Is Wrong and the Implications of Rejecting It (2015), Reflections on Intelligence (2016), You Are Them (2017), Effective Altruism: How Can We Best Help Others? (2018), Suffering-Focused Ethics: Defense and Implications (2020), Reasoned Politics (2022), and Essays on Suffering-Focused Ethics (2022). He is blogging at magnusvinding.com

Reviews for Speciesism

[Caroline · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic book!! This is a must listen! Explained and broke down the concept so well, it is irrefutable. Loved it! I look forward to listening to this over and over again.

[Cia Leest · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

For the first few chapters I thought this book might be interesting. I do agree we should value all life, including that of (wild) animals. However, Some of the arguments in this book I find downright idiotic. Just one example: Comparing predation to cannibalism.