LearnsLanguageSkill,”TheNewYorkTimes,June24,1985;
and “The Wisdom of Animals,”Newsweek, May 23, 1988.
13.IntheShadowofMan(Boston:HoughtonMifflin,1971),
p.225.MichaelPetersmakesasimilarpointin“Natureand
Culture,”inStanleyandRoslindGodlovitchandJohnHarris,
eds.,Animals,MenandMorals(NewYork:Taplinger,1972).
Forexamplesofsomeoftheinconsistenciesindenialsthat
creatureswithoutlanguagecanfeelpain,seeBernardRollin,
TheUnheededCry:AnimalConsciousness,AnimalPain,and
Science(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989).
14.Iamhereputtingasidereligiousviews,forexamplethe
doctrinethatallandonlyhumanbeingshaveimmortalsouls,
or are
madeintheimageofGod.Historicallythesehavebeenvery
important,andno doubtarepartlyresponsiblefor theidea
thathumanlifehasaspecialsanctity.(Forfurtherhistorical
discussionseeChapter5.)Logically,however,thesereligious
viewsareunsatisfactory,sincetheydonotofferareasoned
explanation of why it should be that all humans and no
nonhumans haveimmortal souls.Thisbelief too,therefore,
comesundersuspicionasaformofspeciesism.Inanycase,
defendersofthe“sanctityoflife”viewaregenerallyreluctant
tobasetheirpositiononpurelyreligiousdoctrines,sincethese
doctrines are no longer as widely accepted as they once were.
- For a general discussion of these questions, see my
Practical Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1979),andforamoredetaileddiscussionofthetreatmentof
handicapped infants, see Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer,
Should the Baby Live? (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1985).