Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 16
 It caused me to become vegan (and I am grateful for it) June 14, 2001
Jamie (New Mexico)
33 out of 37 found this review helpful
This is an amazing book. Eloquently written, well-thought out arguments, facts to back up their arguements. If everyone read this book, I don't see how our world would be the same. We would be unable to continue our misuse of animals without, at the vary least, a guilty conscience of knowing what we are doing is wrong. Highly recommend to anyone whether or not you already believe in animal rights.
Francione Has the Quintessential Blueprint for Abolition March 31, 2001
Chris Kelly (Dallas, Texas United States)
18 out of 24 found this review helpful
Gary Francione has published the simplified version of AR --the one that explains the basics of what works (and what doesn't). He validates the path I chose after decades of trying to work with, around, and over welfarist activities which only further entrenched nonhuman animals into the circle "use, abuse, regulation, enforcement, use, abuse, on and on." He addresses the confusion surrounding application of the equal consideration principle. Property (current status of animals) and humans (holding legal personhood) will always be treated differently -since property has no value except as it relates to the human owner, ending the property status of nonhumans, indeed ending animal domestication altogether, is where we must start.
A powerful wake-up call for an animal-expoiting culture February 26, 2001
Al Clay (Delaware Valley)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
Professor Francione's philosophy has never been more concisely or urgently articulated than in this book. Paring the discussion of our treatment of animals down to basic elements and building his arguments with rigorous logic, Francione makes an overwhelming case that may even convince the casual reader to adopt a change in lifestyle. What makes this book so powerful is that rather than convince us that we should believe what he believes about justice and/or morality in human/animal relations, Francione shows that we already DO belive it - it's just that most of us are too confused or too lazy to act on such beliefs. The criticism(s?) of his "all or nothing" stance miss the point - Francione's abolitionist stance provokes all readers to examine the very foundation of their own opinions, and assists animal activists in making coherent arguments for the cause. A cup of very strong, if occasionally bitter, coffee that should wake up every American.
 Francione not realistic and nor constructive January 29, 2001
11 out of 36 found this review helpful
Francione's premise is that animal's status as property allows egregious abuse for convenience sake. This is true, but convincing people that every animal should not be property would be much harder than simply eliminating most of the abuses themselves. The probability of convincing even a sizeable minority of Francione's "all or nothing" dogma is virtually zero. If his is the only road to a better life for the animals, then non-human beings are doomed. I believe Peter Singer's Animal Liberation is the more realistic philosphy, which spawned a booming movement in the late 70s and 80s. Singer's follow-up book Ethics in Action, (biography of successful Animal Rights activist, the late Henry Spira), gives the tactical instruction that activists need to get animal advocacy into the mainstream.
The Case is Complete January 14, 2001
Lesli Bisgould, LL.B. (Toronto, Canada)
26 out of 28 found this review helpful
Gary Francione is the pre-eminent scholar on the topic of animal rights. If one was not already convinced of this by his body of work on the subject, this new book surely proves it. In it, Francione has synthesized ideas that he introduced to us years ago, and that he has persisted in writing and thinking about ever since. He presents an idea that is seemingly complex in a neat, comprehensible and embarassingly persuasive argument. Embarassing because the logic is so clear that one is left wondering how it wasn't completely obvious from the start. An animal has the right not to be treated like a thing. It's that simple, not the right to vote or get a good eduction, but the right not to be considered merely human property, or to be used as means that serve human ends. Francione shows clearly why "animal rights" has nothing to do with treating animals "humanely", whatever that might mean. It is about treating animals honestly, in accordance with what we already say we believe they are entitled to. Twenty years ago, "animal rights" was a term that most people had never heard of. Today, because of people like Francione, that is no longer the case. However, the fact that the term has entered the mainstream and become the subject of common parlance also means that it is sometimes misunderstood, even by those who claim to be its advocates. After reading Francione's latest book, there can be no mistake about what animal rights is and why it is desperately needed. Francione comes to the subject with intellectual honesty and he is one of a very few who has the courage to take his argument, and all of its component parts, to their logical conclusion. There can also be no doubt, for all the bloody reasons Francione points out, that the societal recognition of animal rights is inevitable and that it is long past time to begin the implementation.
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