Vegetarianism: The Argument Against Speciesism

It’s a well-known scenario: A bus is rushing out of control toward a person and a dog. You only have time to save either the dog or the person, and the other will inevitably die. Who would you choose? In our society dominated with speciesism, the answer seems relatively obvious to most people: save the human, a member of our own species. However, it turns out that distinction may be blurring. According to a recent study by Topolski, 40.2% of participants chose to save their pet over a foreign tourist8. The statistic dwindles down dramatically to 2% when the participants are asked to choose between their pet and immediate family member, but this seems to be a dramatic change from the past, and a movement towards placing an equal value on the lives of animals over human strangers. Although this study looked at the relationship of an individual with their pet (and is therefore not a good representative for animals on a whole) it has important implications, and there are other instances in our present day where people seem to be moving towards anti-speciesism, such as the recent spike in veganism (a growth from 1% in 2009 to 2.5% in 2012 – more than doubling …show more content…
There were several philosophers and forms of legislation that supported animal rights throughout history, but it was only recently that there was an increased interest in animal protection from the general population. The vast majority of animal rights organizations were founded in the 20th century, and ethical veganism became mainstream just at the start of the 21st century. So what are some reasons why this idea has become more prominent in our present