Regan Thom is a renowned American eco-philosopher, lecturer and professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina in the USA. Regan is known as an animal rights activist, leader of the animal rights movement, and a writer and publisher of animal rights literature.
Biography
Tom Regan was born on November 28, 1938 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Tom Regan is recognized as the most prominent representative of the deontological movement in the animal rights movement.
In his publications, the eco-philosopher claims that both humans and animals are carriers of life. Therefore, if we give meaning to all people, regardless of their ability to be rational agents, then, consequently, animals should also be endowed with the same meaning.
Thus, Tom Regan, like other representatives of the deontological movement for the liberation of animals, stands firmly on the position of equal rights with animals. Such identical essential physiological qualities as desires, reason, memory, etc. bind people with animals, and therefore everyone should have an equal inherent value, it is this value that will be the basis for equality of rights. These rights are inalienable and cannot be denied.
The main ideas of ecophilosophy in the writings of Regan
For Regan, animals, like humans, are individuals, so utility cannot trample on those rights. The philosopher also actively advocates a ban on hunting and any experiments on animals. Moreover, members of endangered species are no more valuable than members of other species.
Regan believes that all animals deserve to be treated with respect, so humans should develop appropriate rules for dealing with natural life. “It is not an act of kindness that we should treat animals with respect, it is an act of justice” (Regan, 1993).
Regan's theory of rights is a theory about the moral rights of individuals. She supports measures to save endangered species. From the point of view of animal rights activists, the same principles that apply to the moral judgment of rare species apply to common species.
Literary creativity
Tom Regan is the author of many articles and books on moral philosophy, and his active position has earned him the title of revolutionary in the field of animal liberation and the fight for their rights. Regan is not demanding reform, but the abolition of the use of animals in science, the dissolution of commercial livestock farms and a ban on commercial sport hunting and trapping.
Regan offers two methods to achieve this goal. The first he calls the look is cruelty-kindness. This implies that it is our direct duty not to be cruel to animals and to be kind to them. The second way is to recognize the inherent value of individuals.
All who have inherent value have it equally, whether it is a human being or an animal. The theory behind the animal rights movement is identical to the human rights movement. T. Regan's theory categorically rejects the use of animals in science. Regan's opinion is the same with regard to commercial livestock farming.
The opinion of T. Regan is similar in relation to the wild life of animals.
In Ethical Thinking and Theory, Tom Regan describes six features of good moral judgment:
- information,
- conceptual clarity,
- soundness,
- rationality,
- impartiality,
- application of sound moral principles.
Regan argues that assessing moral principles should be guided by considerations of consistency, consistency, and identity of moral intuitions. The debt of people in relation to children, the elderly and other moral patients is based not on "sentimental interests", but on respect for their true value, as the ecophilosopher believes.
Therefore, people should change their beliefs before changing their habits. They must believe in change, must want it, only then will there be laws protecting animal rights. This process is very complex, capacious and requires many efforts in education, political organization, and public life.
In his literary works, Tom Regan proceeds from the principle - just as black people are not created specifically for white people, so nature does not exist only for humans. All natural animal species have their own life and their own value. Morality that failed to grasp this truth, Regan emphasizes, is empty and unfounded.
The most significant work in the career of Tom Regan is considered "Animal Rights Court", published in 1983. In it, he argues that "the animal rights movement is integral to the human rights movement."
Famous animal rights activist Tom Regan passed away on February 17, 2017 in North Carolina, USA.
