Speciesism and the Ideology of Domination in the Italian Philosophical Tradition

In this chapter I shall analyse the reception, development, and the resulting practical / political implications of antispeciesist moral philosophy and animal ethics in the Italian philosophical tradition since the translation of Animal Liberation by Peter Singer (1991). I shall begin by recalling the successful reception of Singer’s contribution and later of Tom Regan’s, as well as the establishment of the journal Etica & Animali directed by Paola Cavalieri and the first formation of animal welfare organizations. I will then retrace the transformation of activism following what has been called – with a term that I deem to be improper – “political antispeciesism”, articulated on the basis of arguments that combine, in a single set, claims for animal rights and human rights (on the basis of the reception of Nibert 2002). Finally I shall go on to a reconstruction of the contemporary debate, which revolves around the opposition between “weak antispeciesism” – intended to establish the autonomy of antispeciesism from the struggles for human rights – and the aforementioned political antispeciesism. What will emerge from my reconstruction is a different conception of the ideology of dominion over animals, and therefore of speciesism, compared to the ethical model that has come to establish itself as prevailing in Italy.