speciesism
Compiled with AI assistance and selectively reviewed. Please consult the cited passages; the books remain the authoritative source. About this companion
Editorial synthesis · provisional
Definition
Speciesism is the Singer-attributed prejudice of discounting a being’s suffering because it belongs to another species. The argument places sentience, rather than species membership, at the boundary of moral consideration and requires equal consideration of interests where sentience is present. The author retains this humane demand while separately questioning the admission-by-capacity framework.
Explanation
AB introduces speciesism within the widening of moral concern and identifies Singer in its thinker register and note. The term therefore remains attributed, rather than being presented as the author’s original name for all ecological injustice or all differences in treatment between species.
RB3 explains the comparison with racism and sexism as a structural criticism of prejudice. Its account asks for consistency in the treatment of suffering, not affection for animals. It then distinguishes Singer’s utilitarian consideration from Regan’s insistence on inherent value and non-tradeable basic rights.
PB places speciesism in its earlier animal-ethics discussion. Across these treatments, the author’s later objection concerns a human-administered criterial gate and the regimes acting on animal lives. That objection must remain distinct from the definition of speciesism and from a claim that Singer’s humane conclusion has been rejected.
Scope and attribution
Retain the inherited subentry recommendation and explicit Singer attribution.
AB — The Actual Book
Singer’s named criticism appears within the widening of moral concern.
Occurrence locators: 184; Thinker register: 232; Notes: 248.
PB — The Possible Book
The earlier animal essay supplies historical placement.
Occurrence locators: Reproduced historical essay: 190, 200.
RB3 — The Real Book, Volume III: Murmurations
Sentience and equal consideration are distinguished from Regan’s rights account and from the author’s regime critique.
Occurrence locators: 235, 236, 237; Notes: 236.