English

Alternative forms

• species-ism, speciesm, specism

Noun

speciesism ‎(uncountable)

1. (philosophy, ethics) An ethical stance that assigns different worth or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership, such as assigning greater rights to human beings than to other animals.
   • 1996, Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., ISBN 0-393-31570-3:

     Such is the breathtaking speciesism of our Christian-inspired attitudes, the abortion of a single human zygote (most of them are destined to be spontaneously aborted anyway) can arouse more moral solicitude and righteous indignation than the vivisection of any number of intelligent adult chimpanzees

Related terms

• speciesist
• speciest
• specist

Translations

See also

• animal liberation