A wide-ranging new book makes a strong case for applying the concept of dignity to nonhumans and introduces readers to animal dignity in history, law, culture, and science.
"My hope is that a more formal recognition of animal dignity would prohibit debasing objectification and reset our relations with other species." -Melanie Challenger
People often say something like,"We need to treat animals with dignity..." but don't tell us exactly what that means. I, too, am often confused because I know what I mean but can't precisely articulate it. When pressed, I often say that having dignity means that animals—human and nonhuman alike—are worthy of respect because of who they are, for their inherent value.
But dignity, more than personhood, can’t and shouldn't be based on exceptional human attributes. As such, it struck me that dignity is a more suitable concept to relate to other animals, both in capturing the importance of fundamental respect and in recognizing how power dynamics can leave individuals vulnerable to denigration. Not only can dignity help establish a positive way of attending to another, but the concept can also be embedded inand law to prevent certain kinds of harmful acts.
The book has four main sections. First, we define the concept of animal dignity. One common claim is that dignity is unique to humans. Much of the first part of the book counters this idea. The second section considers what lies at the heart of animal dignity. There’s consensus here that dignity is always about a certain special kind of moraland respect status. Dignity is also commonly used to explain denigration as the withdrawal of this respect.
And yet, even though we have environmental and animal protections, there isn't a single non-human being in the major societies of our planet that is given true moral status for who they are. As such, for all intents and purposes, everyone out there that isn't human is a thing or an object in the eyes of the law. People like Stevenof the Nonhuman Rights Project have fought hard to chip away at this. But my hope is that we can reach into the laws of most major democracies through dignity.
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