The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity

The publication of this volume kicks off the Great Ape Project, a worldwide effort to extend the rights commonly afforded humans to chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. Proponents of the project would accord the rights to life, protection of individual liberty and prohibition of torture to all of these creatures. Singer ( Animal Liberation ) and freelance writer Cavalieri present 30 essays that make a persuasive case for equal rights. Contributors include field biologists, psychologists, lawyers, philosophers and anthropologists. Bernard Rollins, who teaches at Colorado State, where he developed the first college course in veterinary ethics and animal rights, suggests that the first step is to prohibit the importing of apes for zoos, entertainment or research. Other contributors are Jane Goodall, Roger and Deborah Fouts and Harlan Miller. As presented here, this revolutionary and controversial idea merits consideration. (Jan.)