This thesis puts forward a theory for a new basis of the rights and dignities of animals. The first chapter explains how the neurobiological output / input model can be applied to animal behavior, and suggests that animals—from fruit flies to chimpanzees—and humans are most similar in their desire to experiment with the world around them. The remaining chapters explore the practical implications of considering animals through the output / input model, using literature, the author’s personal experience, biological observations, and historical anecdotes. These chapters seek to prove that animals have much more to offer us than milk and meat. / Master of Arts / This is a draft of a book that lays down a new basis for the rights and dignities of animals. Rather than emphasizing the intelligence of various species, their communication abilities, or capacity to feel pain, the author emphasizes the impulse to experiment, which new research suggests may be a universal characteristic of the animal kingdom. The second half of the book is a series of essays that attempts to show how this new model might change human relations with various animals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78391 |
| Date | 20 July 2017 |
| Creators | Denton-Edmundson, Matthew |
| Contributors | English, Graham, Peter W., Gardner, Thomas M., Meitner, Erika S. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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