----- Original Message ----- From: "Carrol Cox" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Singer's concern with animal rights has a metaphysical origin. It is one of the innumerable manifestations of the lust for certainty that is deeply grounded in the thought of capitalist societies. He thought he could find ethical certainty by grounding "rights" in the capacity to feel pain. As I remember his articles in the NYRB this metaphysical lust was a far stronger element than any actual concern for the entities feeling pain. Fore example, he could indulge in long arguments about the relative rights of rats and of infants in the inner cities. It was all utterly separated from concrete condtions. Carrol ----- The quest/metaphysical lust for certainty is *far older* than capitalism! Ian
