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Reading paths

Topic-based routes that cut across the volumes. Each path starts with the most accessible text.

The essentials in an afternoon

For those who want the full picture before going deeper. 10 chapters · about 35 min

  1. Vol. XII Introduction
  2. Vol. XII Attempts to Justify Disregarding Animals
  3. Vol. XII The Case for Considering All Sentient Beings
  4. Vol. XII The Debate on the Sentience Criterion
  5. Vol. XII The Harm of Death and the Reasons Against Killing
  6. Vol. XII Differences Between Environmentalism and Consideration for Animals
  7. Vol. XII The Situation of Wild Animals and the Proposal to Help Them
  8. Vol. XII What Criteria Should We Use to Help Efficiently?
  9. Vol. XII Which Problems Affect the Largest Numbers of Animals?
  10. Vol. XII Conclusion

Understanding speciesism

From the concept to the main justifications and why they fail. 12 chapters · about 51 min

  1. Vol. I An Overview of the Debate on the Moral Consideration of Animals
  2. Vol. I Is Species What Matters?
  3. Vol. I Could the Possession of Capacities or Relationships Justify Speciesism?
  4. Vol. I Could Humans' Supposed Potential Justify Speciesism?
  5. Vol. I If Speciesism Is Natural, Is Speciesism Justified?
  6. Vol. I Does the Fact That Speciesist Practices Are Traditions Show That We Should Respect Them?
  7. Vol. I Attempts to Justify Speciesism That Appeal to Authorities
  8. Vol. II What Is Relevant to Knowing to Whom We Owe Consideration?
  9. Vol. II What Is the Argument from Species Overlap?
  10. Vol. II Why Equal Consideration?
  11. Vol. II What Would We Decide Under Conditions of Impartiality?
  12. Vol. II Testing Whether an Attitude Is Speciesist

Veganism and everyday objections

The questions every vegan has heard, with well-grounded answers. 13 chapters · about 65 min

  1. Vol. IV How Do the Animals Exploited by Humans Live and Die?
  2. Vol. IV Why Is Animal Exploitation Unjust?
  3. Vol. IV What Is Veganism?
  4. Vol. IV What About Plants?
  5. Vol. IV The Objection That Consuming Animals Is Natural
  6. Vol. IV Does It Matter What We Would Do on a Desert Island or in a Burning House?
  7. Vol. IV Is It Necessary to Consume Animal Products?
  8. Vol. IV Is Veganism Only for the Rich?
  9. Vol. IV Would Veganism Ruin the Economy and Cost Jobs?
  10. Vol. IV But Does Veganism Really Have a Practical Impact?
  11. Vol. IV But Doesn't Veganism Cause Even More Deaths Than Consuming Animals?
  12. Vol. IV Aren't Animals Already Protected by the Law?
  13. Vol. IV The Claim That Animal Advocates Are Imposing Their Lifestyle

Is killing painlessly wrong?

The harm of death and the reasons against killing. 9 chapters · about 70 min

  1. Vol. III What Does the Harm of Death Consist Of?
  2. Vol. III Discussing the Claim That Animals Are Not Harmed by Death
  3. Vol. III Are Those Incapable of Intellectual Pleasures Only Slightly Harmed by Death?
  4. Vol. III How Can We Assess How Much Someone Is Harmed by Death?
  5. Vol. III Discussing the Claim That Animals Are Replaceable
  6. Vol. III The Claim That Having Little Time Left Makes Death a Small Harm
  7. Vol. III Differentiated Moral Status, the Harm of Death, and the Wrongness of Killing
  8. Vol. IV The Claim That Consuming Animals Puts an End to Their Suffering
  9. Vol. IV Is Raising Animals for Consumption Justified Because It Brings Them into Existence?

Nature, environmentalism and wild animals

Why defending animals is not the same as defending the environment, and what that implies. 13 chapters · about 69 min

  1. Vol. V Respect for animals and environmentalism: complementary or opposed?
  2. Vol. V The divergence concerns ends, not only means
  3. Vol. V Do ecological balance and biodiversity coincide with what is best for animals?
  4. Vol. V What do environmentalist extermination programs aim at?
  5. Vol. VII What Should We Do About Animals Living in the Wild?
  6. Vol. VII How Do Natural Processes Typically Affect Wild Animals?
  7. Vol. VII Foundations of the Proposal to Help Victims of Natural Processes
  8. Vol. VII Is the Proposal to Help Wild Animals Arrogant?
  9. Vol. VII The Less Human Influence in the World, the Better?
  10. Vol. VII Which Fields Should Answer What to Do About Wild Animals?
  11. Vol. VII What Is Already Being Done to Help Wild Animals?
  12. Vol. VII What Else Could Be Done to Help: Establishing Welfare Biology
  13. Vol. VII The Issue of Predation

Who feels? The sentience criterion

The debate on whom we owe moral consideration. 12 chapters · about 58 min

  1. Vol. II What Is Sentience and Why Does It Matter?
  2. Vol. II Which Beings Are Sentient?
  3. Vol. II Uncertainty About Sentience and the Benefit of the Doubt
  4. Vol. VI What is relevant for knowing to whom we owe consideration?
  5. Vol. VI Is the criterion of sentience anthropocentric at bottom?
  6. Vol. VI According to the criterion of sentience, is suffering the only problem?
  7. Vol. VI Does the criterion of sentience exclude insects?
  8. Vol. VI Are animals with simpler brains less sentient?
  9. Vol. VI Is Biocentrism Better Because It Includes a Greater Number of Beings?
  10. Vol. VI Does Life Without Sentience Have Value?
  11. Vol. VI If Plants Are Morally Considerable, Does It Make No Difference Whether We Eat Animals or Plants?
  12. Vol. IV The Exploitation of Insects and Why We Should Oppose It

Activism that works

Criteria for prioritizing, strategies, and the biases that get in the way. 12 chapters · about 191 min

  1. Vol. VIII How to Choose Which Causes and Problems to Prioritize and Which Strategies Are Best?
  2. Vol. VIII How Does the Animal Cause Fare on the Priority Criteria?
  3. Vol. VIII Among the Problems Affecting Animals, Which Are the Most Important?
  4. Vol. VIII The Use of Anthropocentric and Environmentalist Arguments in the Animal Cause
  5. Vol. VIII Shifting the Focus in Debates: Why Is Speciesism Rarely Discussed?
  6. Vol. VIII Normative Objections Disguised as Strategic Objections
  7. Vol. VIII Focusing on Veganism versus Focusing on Reducing Consumption
  8. Vol. VIII The Debate on Regulating Animal Exploitation
  9. Vol. VIII The Debate on Cultivated Meat
  10. Vol. X Biases That Lead Us to Neglect the Problems with the Most Victims
  11. Vol. X Cognitive Biases and Their Influence on Our Decisions That Affect Animals
  12. Vol. X Some Biases That Can Influence the Choice of Strategies and How the Public Receives Them

The future of sentient beings

S-risks, the long term and emerging technologies. 10 chapters · about 119 min

  1. Vol. IX Future Risks for Sentient Beings: An Introduction
  2. Vol. IX Temporal Impartiality: What It Is and Why It Matters
  3. Vol. IX What Reasons Are There to Focus on the Long Term?
  4. Vol. IX Should We Focus on Preventing S-Risks or X-Risks?
  5. Vol. IX Identifying Risk Factors for S-Risks
  6. Vol. IX Longtermist Strategies: Broad and Targeted
  7. Vol. IX Changing Public Debate, Forms of Activism, and Political Institutions
  8. Vol. IX Shaping Emerging Technologies to Prevent Future Suffering
  9. Vol. IX The Influence Triad and Future Suffering
  10. Vol. X Biases That Contribute to the Neglect of the Long Term and of S-Risks

Ethical theories and animals

For those who want the philosophical foundations. 7 chapters · about 188 min

  1. Vol. XI An Introduction to the Central Distinctions in Value Theory
  2. Vol. XI An Introduction to Theories of Well-Being
  3. Vol. XI Value Judgments, Descriptions of Facts, Objectivity, and Subjectivity
  4. Vol. XI Categories of Normative Ethical Theories
  5. Vol. XI To What Extent Do Ethical Theories Agree About What We Owe Animals?
  6. Vol. XI Weighing Criteria
  7. Vol. II Is the Rejection of Speciesism Compatible with Only One View of Ethics?