A Cosmpolitan Account of Animal Rights

What is it about?

The paper argues that nonhuman animals have universal moral rights against suffering and being killed, and that humans ought to adopt a cosmpolitan mindset in its dealings with nonhuman animals. This means that we ought to treat them with hospitality where they mean us no harm, acting in a welcoming manner.

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Why is it important?

Many accounts of animal rights argue that human political communities ought to live separate lives from nonhuman animals, letting them be and practicing principles of exclusion and non-interference. These approaches are neither realistic nor desireable - humans and non humans can live mutually beneficial and can coexist in ways that enrich both. Cosmopolitan principles offer an ethical framework for our interactions.