Tom Regan
| Tom Regan | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
November 28, 1938 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | February 17, 2017 (aged 78) North Carolina, U.S. |
| Education | BA (1960), Thiel College MA (1962), University of Virginia PhD (1966), University of Virginia |
| Occupation | Professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University |
| Known for | Animal rights advocacy, the concept of "subject-of-a-life" |
| Notable work | The Case for Animal Rights (1983) |
| Spouse(s) | Nancy Tirk |
| Children | Bryan and Karen |
| Website | www.tomregan.info |
Tom Regan (November 28, 1938 – February 17, 2017) was an American philosopher who specialized in animal rights theory. He was professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, where he had taught from 1967 until his retirement in 2001.
Regan was the author of numerous books on the philosophy of animal rights, including The Case for Animal Rights (1983), one of a handful of studies that have significantly influenced the modern animal rights movement. In these, he argues that non-human animals are what he calls the "subjects-of-a-life", just as humans are, and that, if we want to ascribe value to all human beings regardless of their ability to be rational agents, then to be consistent, we must similarly ascribe it to non-humans.
From 1985, he served with his wife Nancy as co-founder and co-president of the Culture and Animals Foundation, a nonprofit organization "committed to fostering the growth of intellectual and artistic endeavors united by a positive concern for animals."
Regan graduated from Thiel College in 1960, receiving his M.A. in 1962 and his PhD in 1966 from the University of Virginia. He taught philosophy at North Carolina State University from 1967 until 2001. Regan directed the 1986 film We Are All Noah which is available on VHS videotape.
In The Case for Animal Rights, Regan argued that non-human animals bear moral rights. His philosophy aligns broadly within the tradition of Immanuel Kant, though he rejects Kant's idea that respect is due only to rational beings. Regan points out that we routinely ascribe inherent value, and thus the right to be treated with respect, to humans who are not rational, including infants and the severely mentally impaired.
The crucial attribute that all humans have in common, he argues, is not rationality, but the fact that each of us has a life that matters to us; in other words, what happens to us matters to us, regardless of whether it matters to anyone else. In Regan's terminology, we each experience being the "subject-of-a-life." If this is the true basis for ascribing inherent value to individuals, to be consistent we must ascribe inherent value, and hence moral rights, to all subjects-of-a-life, whether human or non-human. The basic right that all who possess inherent value have, he argues, is the right never to be treated merely as a means to the ends of others.
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