Animal Rights

From: Walter Block [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2019 2:24 PM
To: Y
Subject: RE: Animal Rights

Dear Y:

See below

Best regards,

Walter

From: Y
Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2019 11:30 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Animal Rights

Hello Dr. Block,

I’m Y from XYZ, fellow Anarchist / Libertarian. I got a lot of clarity on the subject of Animal rights after watching your debate. I just wanted to ask you one specific question, which is a problem I’ve run into while debating vegans:

If a person was torturing an animal in his own property, and a bunch of people felt justified to intervene and use force against him, would that be wrong?

NO, IT WOULD BE MORALLY RIGHT FOR THEM TO STOP HIM. BUT, IT WOULD VIOLATE THE NAP OF LIBERTARIANISM, AND THEREFORE CONSTITUTE A CRIME.

Also after they’ve gone and successfully stopped the torture from being committed, would you want to see those same people imprisoned for having violating the property rights of the animal abuser?

YES. NOT ONLY HAVE THEY TRESPASSED AND THUS VIOLATED THE PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE TORTURER, THEY HAVE ALSO COMMITTED ASSAULT AND BATTERY ON HIM. IF THEY DON’T WANT TO COMMIT A CRIME, THEY SHOULD LIMIT THEIR OPPOSITION TO HIS HEINOUS ACTION BY BOYCOTTING HIM.

If they were imprisonment was done by a third group of people, would you support them / oppose them / be neutral about it?

SUPPORT. THESE PEOPLE, ALTHOUGH THEY ACTED MORALLY IN USING FORCE AGAINST THE TORTURER, VIOLATED THE LIBERTARIAN NAP LAW.
Thanks for all the work you’ve done.  Best, Y

I’ve written a bit about this:

Montgomery, Stephen and Walter E. Block. 2016. “Animal torture and thick libertarianism.” Review of Social and Economic Issues (RSEI), Vol 1, No. 3, Spring, pp. 105-116. http://rsei.rau.ro/images/V1N3/Articol_5.pdfhttp://www.rebe.rau.ro/RePEc/rau/rseijr/SP16/RSEI-SP16-A5.pdf

Block, Walter E. and Steven Craig. 2017. “Animal torture.”  The Review of Social and Economic Issues (RSEI)http://rsei.rau.ro/index.php/lasthttp://rsei.rau.ro/index.php/10-published-issues/10-volume-1-number-4

Block, Walter E. https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/two-challenges-to-libertarianism/

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3:39 am on January 1, 2020