Plant rights
Encyclopedia
Plant rights are rights
that plant
s may be entitled to. Such issues are often raised in connection with discussions about animal rights
or biocentrism
.
On the question of whether animal rights can be extended to plants, philosopher Tom Regan
argues that animals acquire rights due to being aware, what he calls "subjects-of-a-life". He argues that this does not apply to plants, and that even if plants did have rights, abstaining from eating meat would still be moral due to the use of plants to rear animals. Philosopher Paul Taylor
holds that all life has inherent worth and argues for respect for plants, but does not assign them rights. Christopher D. Stone proposed in a 1972 paper titled "Should Trees Have Standing?" that if corporations are assigned rights, so should natural objects such as trees. When challenged by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
to become vegetarian, Timothy McVeigh
argued that "plants are alive too, they react to stimuli (including pain); have circulation systems, etc." The Animal Liberation Front
argues that there is no evidence that plants can experience pain, and that to the extent they respond to stimuli, it is like a device such as a thermostat
responding to sensors.
In his dissent to the 1972 Sierra Club v. Morton decision by the United States Supreme Court, William O. Douglas
wrote about whether plants might have legal standing
:
Samuel Butler
's Erewhon
contains a chapter, "The Views of an Erewhonian Philosopher Concerning the Rights of Vegetables". The Swiss Constitution contains a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms," and the Swiss government has conducted ethical studies pertaining to how the dignity of plants is to be protected. The single-issue Party for Plants entered candidates in the 2010 parliamentary election in The Netherlands. Such concerns have been criticized as evidence that modern culture is "causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns."
Rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
that plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s may be entitled to. Such issues are often raised in connection with discussions about animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
or biocentrism
Biocentrism (ethics)
Biocentrism , in a political and ecological sense, is an ethical point of view which extends inherent value to non-human species, ecosystems, and processes in nature - regardless of their sentience...
.
On the question of whether animal rights can be extended to plants, philosopher Tom Regan
Tom Regan
Tom Regan is an American philosopher who specializes in animal rights theory. He is professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, where he taught from 1967 until his retirement in 2001....
argues that animals acquire rights due to being aware, what he calls "subjects-of-a-life". He argues that this does not apply to plants, and that even if plants did have rights, abstaining from eating meat would still be moral due to the use of plants to rear animals. Philosopher Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor (philosopher)
Paul W. Taylor is a philosopher best known for his work in the field of environmental ethics. His theory of biocentric egalitarianism, related to but not identical with deep ecology, was first published in his 1986 book Respect for Nature, and is taught in many university courses on environmental...
holds that all life has inherent worth and argues for respect for plants, but does not assign them rights. Christopher D. Stone proposed in a 1972 paper titled "Should Trees Have Standing?" that if corporations are assigned rights, so should natural objects such as trees. When challenged by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
to become vegetarian, Timothy McVeigh
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995...
argued that "plants are alive too, they react to stimuli (including pain); have circulation systems, etc." The Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
argues that there is no evidence that plants can experience pain, and that to the extent they respond to stimuli, it is like a device such as a thermostat
Thermostat
A thermostat is the component of a control system which regulates the temperature of a system so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint temperature. The thermostat does this by switching heating or cooling devices on or off, or regulating the flow of a heat transfer...
responding to sensors.
In his dissent to the 1972 Sierra Club v. Morton decision by the United States Supreme Court, William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
wrote about whether plants might have legal standing
Standing (law)
In law, standing or locus standi is the term for the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case...
:
Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler may refer to:*Samuel Butler , author of Hudibras*Samuel Butler , classical scholar, schoolmaster at Shrewsbury, Bishop of Lichfield...
's Erewhon
Erewhon
Erewhon: or, Over the Range is a novel by Samuel Butler, published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed in which part of the world Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country...
contains a chapter, "The Views of an Erewhonian Philosopher Concerning the Rights of Vegetables". The Swiss Constitution contains a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms," and the Swiss government has conducted ethical studies pertaining to how the dignity of plants is to be protected. The single-issue Party for Plants entered candidates in the 2010 parliamentary election in The Netherlands. Such concerns have been criticized as evidence that modern culture is "causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns."