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A review by amandasbookreview
Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.0
“We have to speak up on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.”
ANIMAL LIBERATION
I have finally got around to reading Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. This book was on my Summer Reading List for 2021. The book dives into the philosophy of animal treatment. The book first came out in 1975 and was one of the first animal rights books. The beginning of the book gets into the morals and ethics behind how we treat animals. What is speciesism? Speciesism is the assumption of human superiority over animals. The middle sections discuss animal experimentation and factory farming. The end concludes with the benefits of becoming a vegetarian and the effects that would have on the environment.
So I want to start off by saying I have been a vegetarian for over a year now and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Most days my diet is vegan. I have given up all meat and milk. The only thing I have trouble giving up completely is cheese.—and the occasional eggs and butter for baking. But I try to use those sparingly. In the last couple of years, I have been reading a lot about the environment and animal conservation and this book seemed at the top of those reading lists. The first part comes off as very arrogant and preachy. While I agree with his sentiments and morals behind animals needing our support, I did not like the comparisons he made. He also did not have any reference to Indigenous peoples and their beliefs regarding animals. He does reference the treatment of animals throughout history and he just happened to skip over entire peoples from all over the globe.
However, the chapters on animal testing and factory farms were intense, emotional, well-researched, and well documented. His evidence was not hearsay. He took from actual documentation. I also appreciated the end where he discussed speciesism and why we should look at animals differently rather than something that can just be disposed of with no thought. So while the execution of this novel wasn’t perfect. I did agree with him in that it is abhorrent that we treat animals as a thing and that something is expendable. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.
So I want to start off by saying I have been a vegetarian for over a year now and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Most days my diet is vegan. I have given up all meat and milk. The only thing I have trouble giving up completely is cheese.—and the occasional eggs and butter for baking. But I try to use those sparingly. In the last couple of years, I have been reading a lot about the environment and animal conservation and this book seemed at the top of those reading lists. The first part comes off as very arrogant and preachy. While I agree with his sentiments and morals behind animals needing our support, I did not like the comparisons he made. He also did not have any reference to Indigenous peoples and their beliefs regarding animals. He does reference the treatment of animals throughout history and he just happened to skip over entire peoples from all over the globe.
However, the chapters on animal testing and factory farms were intense, emotional, well-researched, and well documented. His evidence was not hearsay. He took from actual documentation. I also appreciated the end where he discussed speciesism and why we should look at animals differently rather than something that can just be disposed of with no thought. So while the execution of this novel wasn’t perfect. I did agree with him in that it is abhorrent that we treat animals as a thing and that something is expendable. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.