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11 Animal L. 195 (2005)
International Animal Rights: Speciesism and Exclusionary Human Dignity

handle is hein.journals/anim11 and id is 201 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL RIGHTS: SPECIESISM AND EXCLUSIONARY HUMAN DIGNITY By Kyle Ash* The primary goal of this paper is to act as a heuristic device, to suggest an unconventional but practical perspective on the evolution of international law. Upon surveying discourse on the history of international law, texts of treaties, and declarations and writings of influential philosophers of law and morality, an antiquated perspective of humanity is apparent. A conven- tion in international law, and a reflection of a common idea which feeds the foreboding trend of how humans relate to the planet, treats humanity as distinctively separate from the Earth's biodiversity. Though environmental law is beginning to recognize the necessity of conserving biodiversity, a sub- jugating conceptualization of other species has inhibited the development, application, and legitimacy of the principle of sustainability. The belittling view of other species in relation to ourselves also creates inconsistencies within international law and undermines the integrity and sophistication of its development. International human rights law is especially affected. Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ......................................... 195 II. SPECIESISM AND HUMAN REASON ..................... 196 A. Logic, Metaphysics, and Utilitarianism ................ 198 B. Evolutive Science, Evolutive Law ....................... 203 III. EXCLUSIONARY HUMAN DIGNITY ...................... 207 A. Dignity without Merit ................................. 207 IV. CONCLUSION ........................................... 212 I. INTRODUCTION Expanding the circle of international human rights to include non- humans is counterintuitive and perhaps legally impossible. In interna- tional law, the primary basis for human rights is that we are not like other animals. For example, the preamble of the African Charter on * © Kyle Ash, 2005. Mr. Ash earned his B.A. in International Affairs and Political Economy from Lewis and Clark College, his L.L.M. from Brussels School of Interna- tional Studies of University of Kent at Canterbury, U.K., and is currently working on an M.A. in Global Environmental Policy at American University in Washington, D.C. He has worked as an investigative researcher at ForestEthics and most recently as a lobby- ing strategist at the European Environmental Bureau during studies in Brussels. He has also held positions in small business and the financial sector while living in Port- land, Oregon. [1951

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