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To say that a being who is sentient has no interest in continuing to live is like saying that a being with eyes has no interest in continuing to see. Death—however “humane”—is a harm for humans and nonhumans alike.

Gary L. Francione

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Gary L. Francione
Age: 70
Born: 1954
Born: May 24
Philosopher
Professor
University Teacher
New York
United States
Gary Lawrence Francione
Eyes
Interest
Sentient
Eye
Humane
Death
Alike
Live
Continuing
Humans
Harm
Like
However
Saying

More quotes by Gary L. Francione

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There is increasing social concern about our use of nonhumans for experiments, food, clothing and entertainment. This concern about animals reflects both our own moral development as a civilization and our recognition that the differences between humans and animals are, for the most part, differences of degree and not of kind.
Gary L. Francione
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Veganism is not a sacrifice. It is a joy.
Gary L. Francione
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Veganism is about nonviolence: nonviolence to other sentient beings nonviolence to yourself nonviolence to the earth.
Gary L. Francione
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Michael Vick may enjoy watching dogs fight. Someone else may find that repulsive but see nothing wrong with eating an animal who has had a life as full of pain and suffering as the lives of the fighting dogs. It's strange that we regard the latter as morally different from, and superior to, the former.
Gary L. Francione
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I certainly believe that we have a moral obligation to care for the dogs, cats, and other nonhumans whose existence we have caused or facilitated as part of the institution of 'pet' ownership. But I maintain that we ought to abolish the institution and stop causing or facilitating the existence of more 'companion' animals.
Gary L. Francione
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Every sentient being values her/his life even if no one else does. That is what is meant by saying that the lives of all have inherent value.
Gary L. Francione
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The proposition that humans have mental characteristics wholly absent in non-humans is inconsistent with the theory of evolution.
Gary L. Francione
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We should stop bringing more domestic animals into existence.
Gary L. Francione
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99% of our uses of animals, including our numerically most significant use of them for food, do not involve any sort of necessity or any real conflict between human and nonhuman interests. If animals matter morally at all, then, even without accepting a theory of animal rights, those uses of animals cannot be morally justified.
Gary L. Francione
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If we can live and prosper without killing, why would we not do so? I do not see veganism as 'extreme' in any way. I see killing for no reason as extreme in every way.
Gary L. Francione
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Being vegan is not a matter of lifestyle. It is a matter of fundamental moral obligation. Is being vegan a matter of choice? Only insofar as we are able to choose to ignore our moral obligations not to exploit the vulnerable.
Gary L. Francione
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Any serious social, political, and economic change must include veganism.
Gary L. Francione
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It costs us so little to go vegan. It costs animals so much if we don't.
Gary L. Francione
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Speciesism is morally objectionable because, like racism, sexism, and heterosexism, it links personhood with an irrelevant criterion. Those who reject speciesism are committed to rejecting racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of discrimination as well.
Gary L. Francione
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If an animal has any rights at all, it's got the right not to be eaten.
Gary L. Francione
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There is no moral distinction between fur and other materials made from animals, such as leather, which also is the result of the suffering and death of sentient beings.
Gary L. Francione
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The distinction between meat and other animal products is total nonsense. Vegetarianism is a morally incoherent position. If you regard animals as members of the moral community, you really don’t have a choice but to go vegan.
Gary L. Francione
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Domesticated animals such as dogs and cats are vulnerable and entirely dependent on us for all of their needs. They live very unnatural lives because they are not part of the human world and they are not part of the animal world.
Gary L. Francione
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They are nonhuman persons. They are not food. If animals matter morally at all, there is one and only one rational response: go vegan. Everything else is just participation in animal exploitation.
Gary L. Francione
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Forty-two years after Dr. King was murdered, we are still a nation of inequality. People of color, women, gays, lesbians, and others are still treated as second-class citizens. Yes, things have changed but we have still not achieved equality among all humans. And nonhuman animals continue to be chattel property without any inherent value.
Gary L. Francione