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The Political Animal: The Conquest of Speciesism

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The author Richard Ryder is well known in animal protection circles as a successful campaigner politically and as the creator of the notion of "speciesism", a term he introduced to describe the universal oppression of the other animals by the human species. The Political Animal is his latest book and is an overview of the history of the human-nonhuman relationship, its ethics, the science of animal welfare and the political campaign.

Ryder, as a pioneer of the modern animal rights movement, is in an almost unique position in being able to write about all its aspects, European as well as American, scientific, political as well as philosophical. He is an activist in all these arenas. In the book, he describes how he stimulated the scientific study of animals, achieved direct contacts with influential politicians and revealed forgotten aspects of the history of the animal reform movement. Wearing his philosophical hat he proposes a moral code that is applicable not only in human to animal relationships, but also in human to human interactions. Briefly, he contends that we have a moral duty to relieve the pain and distress of others, regardless of their race, sex or species, with priority being given to the individual who is suffering most (i.e. the "painient"). He calls his position "painism".

This is a short, concise and insightful book on various important aspects of the subject of animal rights and protection - an issue that is likely to be far more conspicuous in the politics of the new millennium.