Paola Cavalieri

After the Spanish Parliament passed a law this June extending legal rights to non-human great apes, I decided read more about the rationale behind the decision. Essentially, Spain signed onto The Great Ape Project, an international movement for including all great apes (humans, gorillas, orang-utans, and chimpanzees)in the community of moral equals. The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity is edited by the founders of the project and contains contributions from ethologists, show more philosophers, activists and more in support of the Declaration on Great Apes. The essays were fascinating and informative, though somewhat repetitive. I especially enjoyed the essays that dealt with research into ape intelligence, consciousness, and language. Overall the various authors make a compelling case for why all great apes should be seen as rights-bearing individuals to be protected from murder, imprisonment, and torture. show less