—–Original Message—–
From: N
Sent: Sun 6/26/2016 3:49 PM
To: Walter Block
Subject: Animal Rights and Petitioning
When two species first meet how do we know who must petition who for their rights? Also, we could create a robot that could petition for rights without actually being self aware. In addition, we could come into contact with a species that talks telepathically to each other and can’t communicate with us. Shouldn’t we say that a species should be able to comprehend the rights of others in order to gain rights instead of having to petition for them?
Dear N:
The weaker species needs to petition for their rights. Their rights are more in danger. I think the petition must be self aware, not just a sort of tape recording. So, that lets out robots we have created. If we met a species that communicates telepathically to each other, but respected each other’s rights, and didn’t violate ours, then, I think, we would be required by libertarian law to respect their rights, even though they couldn’t petition for them. So, petitioning, and respecting our rights would be sufficient, but not necessary.
