Prof. Tom Regan (1938-2017) was one of the most important animal rights philosophers in history (if not the most important). He laid the foundation for how animal rights — as opposed to other concepts of animal liberation — are understood today in the vegetarian and vegan movement.
In 1983, Regan published his seminal work, The Case for Animal Rights. Unfortunately, for the general reader and non-philosopher, this 400-page book, published by University of California Press, is quite complex and does not read like a Haruki Murakami novel.
Regan himself seems to have acknowledged this, and in 1989, he published a 24-page booklet called The Philosophy of Animal Rights. This booklet was more impactful, maybe particularly in Western Europe. It was translated into several languages, often informally, and photocopied versions were distributed in the small vegan animal rights movement of the 1990s.
This booklet is already available in several languages. You can see the collection of available languages here.
You can see the full English version, including four new commentaries (see below), here.
The "Tom Regan 1989 project"
Objective
The "Tom Regan 1989 project" now has the objective to make this booklet available in even more languages, both in print and online.
We have now collected four new commentaries - a foreword by Dr. David Sztybel, a foreword by Marly Winckler, a biographical note by Dr. Rainer Ebert, and a postscript by Dr. Christian Koeder. These four commentaries will be included in the booklet.
The whole project is non-profit.
Aim
The overarching aim of the project is to provide information about the fundamental concept of animal rights — in the true sense of the word, not just animal welfare — and to promote a common understanding of the term "animal rights" internationally.
Additionally, the aim is to foster communication, cooperation, and solidarity in the international animal rights movement.
How can you get involved?
You can help by ...
- ... translating
- ... proofreading
- ... contributing artwork for the cover
- ... creating your own cover
If you would like to help or comment, please send me an email ( christiankoeder AT gmail DOT com)
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