Joan Dunayer | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Philosopher |
| Known for | Animal equality, anti-speciesism |
| Notable work | Animal Equality: Language and Liberation (2001), Speciesism (2004) |
Joan Dunayer is an American philosopher andabolitionistanimal rights advocate. She is the author of two books,Animal Equality (2001) andSpeciesism (2004). She has argued for "species equality" the view that all animals including insects should be givenrights.[1]
Dunayer graduated fromPrinceton University and has master's degrees in English literature, education, and psychology.[2] She became a vegan in 1989.[3]
Dunayer is an advocate of abolitionist animal rights. She has been described as "one of the most radical champions of animal rights and abolitionism of all forms of animal slavery".[4] She firmly opposesspeciesism and what she terms "new speciesists", those who pretend to be antispeciesist but still elevate human interests over nonhumans. She categorizesPeter Singer,Tom Regan andGary L. Francione as "new speciesists" as they privilege humans over nonhumans.[4]
She defends radicalegalitarianism that rejects any attempt to compare moral values among different species.[4] In Dunayer's philosophical system a mouse's life is equal to that of a human. Her views have been criticized as problematic and impractical in real life. PhilosopherSteven Best has commented that "Dunayer's radical approach leads her into numerous inconsistencies and hypocrisies. She admits, for instance, that she would kill a bear in self-defense to preserve her own existence", but this hypothetical action is "inconsistent with her radical egalitarianism, for she is assuming that her life is more important than the life of a bear who needs food."[4]
Dunayer's view that rights should be extended to insects are rejected by other abolitionists in the animal rights movement.[5]
“Mixed Messages: Opinion Pieces by Representatives of US Nonhuman-Advocacy Organizations,” inCritical Animal and Media Studies: Communication for Nonhuman Animal Advocacy, ed. Núria Almiron, Matthew Cole, and Carrie P. Freeman (New York: Routledge, 2016), 91-106.
“The Rights of Sentient Beings: Moving Beyond Old and New Speciesism,” inThe Politics of Species: Reshaping Our Relationships with Other Animals, ed. Raymond Corbey and Annette Lanjouw (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 27–39.
“Sexist Words, Speciesist Roots,” inAnimals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations, ed. Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995), 11–31.
