Many people, including animal advocates and others who want to grant legal rights (including personhood) to nonhuman animals, are often criticized for their views because others fear it will diminish what it means to be human. I frankly never have understood these unfounded fears because if one looks, for example, at sentience―the ability to feel―if one member of a species has the capacity to feel, then so too do others of the same species. For this and some other reasons, I was pleased to learn of a book by Dr. Raffael Fasel, More Equal Than Others: Humans and the Rights of Other Animals (2024), that focuses on how animals can be granted rights without undermining humans’ basic equality and rights. Here's what Fasel had to say about this interesting and important book.

Marc Bekoff: What inspired you to write More Equal Than Others: Humans and the Rights of Other Animals?

Raffael Fasel: Over the last decade, animal rights advocates have advanced a radical new litigation strategy. Instead of simply claiming violations of animal welfare provisions, some litigants have argued that animals are legal persons with fundamental legal rights―rights that are akin to human rights and go well beyond what current animal welfare legislation protects. However, as such lawsuits have become more prominent, so has the criticism by those who worry that giving rights to animals would undermine human rights. My book addresses the crucial question arising at this pivotal moment: Can animals become legal persons and holders of fundamental legal rights without threatening humans’ basic equality and rights?

MB: I see you are a legal scholar and philosopher by trade. Does the book draw........

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