Tom Reagan’s Theory Of Animal Rights

In modern society,the pollution of the natural environment has caused many animals to become endangered and even extinct.As the problem of environmental protection becomes more and more apparent,more and more scholars begin to discuss ecological ethics.In the theoretical construction of ecological ethics,Tom Regan’s theory of animal rights has significantly influenced the modern animal liberation movement,breaking through the boundaries of traditional ethics,extending the scope of ethics from human beings to animals,and attacking the anthropocentric theory occupying the dominant position.Tom Regan inherited Kant’s deontology and believed that the rights of animals evolved from human rights.Every animal is the subject of life and has inherent value.Only when the rights are granted to animals can the harm to animals be completely eliminated.The study of Tom Regan’s animal rights can help people understand the development of animal rights theory in the west and improve the construction of China’s ecological civilization.Therefore,Tom Regan’s animal rights theory is a subject worthy of further study.The paper is divided into five parts.Chapter one is the introduction.This paper discusses the research significance of Tom Regan’s animal rights theory and the research status quo of his animal rights theory by domestic and foreign scholars,and expounds the research methods,research ideas and innovation points of this paper.The second chapter discusses the conditions of Tom Regan’s theory of animal rights.Tom Regan’s theory of animal rights was formed in the industrial civilization period.The vigorous development of human industry led to the imbalance of ecological environment,animal experiments and factory farming emerged in large Numbers,and many animal protection organizations and legislation began to appear.Scholars began to pay attention to the welfare and rights of animals.At this point,Tom Regan proposed to give rights to animals so as to protect them from harm.The third chapter elaborates the main content of Tom Regan’s animal rights theory.First,Tom Regan critically examines various animal rights theories,analyzing the merits and demerits of Kant’s deontology,Rawls’ s theory of justice,Jan Narveson’s rational egoism and Peter Singer’s theory of animal liberation.Secondly,based on Kant’s deontology,Tom Regan proposed the equality principle of justice and the assumption of inherent value,proving that animals,like human beings,are subjects of life with inherent value and have basic moral rights.Finally,Tom Regan proposed a practical program of respecting and protecting animal rights corresponding to his theory,that is,promoting vegetarianism,opposing factory farming,animal experimentation,and commercial and recreational hunting.The fourth chapter discusses the controversy caused by Tom Regan’s animal rights theory.There has always been a debate about whether animals have rights.David Degrazia agrees on the importance of moral rights for animals.Gary Francione argues that animals have rights from a legal point of view.While Carl Coghen and R.G.Frey were completely against animal rights,Mary Warren argued that animals have only moral rights inferior to humans.It is helpful to fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of Tom Regan’s animal rights theory by examining the theories for and against Tom Regan’s animal rights theory.Chapter five evaluates Tom Regan’s animal rights theory.Although its theory has limitations,it has a very important positive impact on the protection of the whole ecological environment and the moral construction of ecological ethics.Tom Regan’s animal rights theory has made great contributions to animal protection in China both in theory and in practice.