Mod+ Should chimpanzees have legal rights?

[steve001]

Should chimpanzees have legal rights?
The ‘animal personhood’ movement believes dolphins, great apes, and elephants deserve to be able to sue — and now it has a plaintiff.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/20...egal-rights/Mv8iDDGYUFGNmWNLOWPRFM/story.html

I think they should. We accord human rights to persons born with severe mental defects why not chimps etc that display a level of intelligence and pass the mirror challenged human rights?

 

[Szechuan]

It's an interesting idea. I would shift the perspective though. Law and legal rights are arbitrary human social constructs. Rather than enmesh nature in our artificial system, I think the perspective should be about regulating human actions with respect to animals and the earth in general. It may just be semantics but I think people can better grasp the idea of "these behaviours towards animals are legally restricted" rather than framing the discussion as "this chimp is a person with all the legal protections of personhood".

 

[Devane]

People always say that "Americans love two things (besides beef): guns and lawsuits."

Does this mean that one day, when I go south of the border, I might see litigious monkeys packing heat? (You mean an American? *harhar* #CanadianElitism)

Seriously though...

Rather than enmesh nature in our artificial system, I think the perspective should be about regulating human actions with respect to animals and the earth in general.

This.