Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Arendt on human rights and animal rights

"Even worse was that all societies formed for the protection of the Rights of Man, all attempts to arrive at a new bill of human rights were sponsored by marginal figures-- by a few international jurists without political experience or professional philanthropists supported by uncertain sentiments of professional idealists. The groups they formed, the declarations they issued, showed an uncanny similarity in language and composition to that of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals. No statesman, no political figure of any importance could possibly take them seriously;"
-hannah arendt, origins of totalitarianism, p. 289, 1954 edition.

I have more I want to say about this quotation later, but I also wanted to know if anyone knew if this was correct? Anything out there on the connection between human rights and groups against cruelty to animals?