Description: Why Veganism Matters presents the case for the personhood of nonhuman animals and for veganism in a clear and accessible way that does not require any philosophical or legal background. This book offers a persuasive and powerful argument for all readers who care about animals but are not sure whether they have a moral obligation to be vegan.
Review Quotes: Professor Francione offers a clear and compelling argument that animals, not being merely 'things, ' have the same essential right as other 'persons': namely, the right not to be treated as property and used merely as means to others' ends. This goes far beyond both the 'welfarist' view that animals should be spared undue suffering and the more recent 'animal liberationist' accounts associated with Singer and Regan that those animals that are (probably) self-aware and 'subjects of a life' have the same right as human persons not to be treated merely as means. This revolution in human understanding, he contends, must outlaw both the more obvious forms of oppression and even our enjoyment of our 'pets' and 'animal companions.' No-one who admits that animals merit moral consideration should ignore the force of his argument, however difficult it may be to accept so radical a disarrangement of our lives together.--Stephen R. L. Clark, author of Can We Believe in People?: Human Significance in an Interconnected Cosmos