Abstract

This article is a critical review of Richard Ryder’s recent book, Speciesism, Painism and Happiness: A Morality for the Twenty-First Century. There are brief summaries of Ryder’s positions on the moral significance of happiness, the meaning of "speciesism," the moral theory he calls "painism," and his criticisms of democracy and the moral importance of death. Though sympathetic with Ryder’s overall project, the reviewer questions whether Ryder has discovered the essence of morality, the prejudice of speciesism, a more coherent and workable morality, a fault with democracy, and the moral value of death.