Richard D. Ryder
Encyclopedia
Richard Hood Jack Dudley Ryder (born 1940) is a British psychologist. He is a former Mellon Professor at Tulane University
, New Orleans. He served as chairman of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Council from 1977 to 1979, and is a past president of Britain's Liberal Democrat Animal Protection Group. He has also worked as parliamentary consultant to the Political Animal Lobby.
Ryder came to public attention in 1969 when, having worked in animal research laboratories, he began to speak out against the use of animals in experiments
, and became one of the pioneers of the modern animal liberation movement
. It was Ryder who in 1970 coined the term "speciesism
."
He is the author of Victims of Science (1975), Painism: A Modern Morality (2003), and Putting Morality Back into Politics (2006). He was also a contributor to the influential Animals, Men and Morals: An Inquiry into the Maltreatment of Non-humans (1972) edited by Roslind and Stanley Godlovitch and John Harris. It was in a review of this book for the New York Review of Books that the philosopher Peter Singer
famously put forward his early arguments in favour of animal liberation, which he expanded in Animal Liberation
(1975).
, second son of Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby
. He has an MA in Experimental Psychology and a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the University of Cambridge
.
He calls his current position on the moral status of non-human animals "painism," a term he coined in 1985, arguing that all beings who feel pain deserve rights. Painism can be seen as a third way between Peter Singer's utilitarian position and Tom Regan
's deontological rights view. It combines the utilitarian view that moral status comes from the ability to feel pain with the rights view prohibition on using others as a means to our ends. He has criticized Regan's criterion for inherent worth, arguing that all beings who feel pain have inherent value. He has also criticized the utilitarian idea that exploitation of others can be justified if there is an overall gain in pleasure, arguing that: "One of the problems with the utilitarian view is that, for example, the sufferings of a gang-rape victim can be justified if the rape gives a greater sum total of pleasure to the rapists."
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, New Orleans. He served as chairman of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
Council from 1977 to 1979, and is a past president of Britain's Liberal Democrat Animal Protection Group. He has also worked as parliamentary consultant to the Political Animal Lobby.
Ryder came to public attention in 1969 when, having worked in animal research laboratories, he began to speak out against the use of animals in experiments
Animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
, and became one of the pioneers of the modern animal liberation movement
Animal liberation movement
The animal-liberation movement, sometimes called the animal-rights movement, animal personhood, or animal-advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and...
. It was Ryder who in 1970 coined the term "speciesism
Speciesism
Speciesism is the assigning of different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership. The term was created by British psychologist Richard D...
."
He is the author of Victims of Science (1975), Painism: A Modern Morality (2003), and Putting Morality Back into Politics (2006). He was also a contributor to the influential Animals, Men and Morals: An Inquiry into the Maltreatment of Non-humans (1972) edited by Roslind and Stanley Godlovitch and John Harris. It was in a review of this book for the New York Review of Books that the philosopher Peter Singer
Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...
famously put forward his early arguments in favour of animal liberation, which he expanded in Animal Liberation
Animal Liberation (book)
Animal Liberation is a book by Australian philosopher Peter Singer, published in 1975.The book is widely considered within the animal liberation movement to be the founding philosophical statement of its ideas...
(1975).
Background
Ryder is the son of Major Dudley Ryder, great-grandson of the Hon. Granville RyderGranville Ryder (1799–1879)
The Hon. Granville Dudley Ryder JP , was a British Tory politician.Ryder was the second son of Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, by his wife Lady Susan, daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford. He initially served in the Royal Navy and achieved the rank of Lieutenant...
, second son of Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, PC, FSA was a prominent British politician of the Pittite faction and the Tory party.-Background and education:...
. He has an MA in Experimental Psychology and a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Speciesism and painism
Ryder coined the term "speciesism" in 1970 while lying in the bath, and first used it in a privately-printed leaflet published in Oxford that same year.He calls his current position on the moral status of non-human animals "painism," a term he coined in 1985, arguing that all beings who feel pain deserve rights. Painism can be seen as a third way between Peter Singer's utilitarian position and Tom Regan
Tom Regan
Tom Regan is an American philosopher who specializes in animal rights theory. He is professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, where he taught from 1967 until his retirement in 2001....
's deontological rights view. It combines the utilitarian view that moral status comes from the ability to feel pain with the rights view prohibition on using others as a means to our ends. He has criticized Regan's criterion for inherent worth, arguing that all beings who feel pain have inherent value. He has also criticized the utilitarian idea that exploitation of others can be justified if there is an overall gain in pleasure, arguing that: "One of the problems with the utilitarian view is that, for example, the sufferings of a gang-rape victim can be justified if the rape gives a greater sum total of pleasure to the rapists."
Further reading
- Richard Ryder's website
- Animal Rights Library, selection of writings by Ryder on animal rights.