Abstract

The two principal considerations to be surveyed are the question of the moral justification of maintaining captive populations and the question of the moral requirements for their care in captivity. Arguments for and against the right to maintain such populations will be briefly explored, after which various views about our obligations to captive populations will be discussed. Issues raised by the recent appointment of Peter Singer, well-known animal rights advocate, to the Princeton University faculty will also be explored, along with the recent birth of a new legal specialty called “animal law.”