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Drawing the Line: Science and the Case for Animal Rights
One of those rare books that can change the reader's view of our position in the world and within the animal kingdom, Unlocking the Cage is a landmark both in its scientific insight and in its challenge to the law. As Steven Wise continues his exploration of animal cognition along the evolutionary spectrum -- from apes to dolphins, parrots, elephants, dogs, and even honeybees -- he finds astonishing answers to the big question in animal rights today: Where do we draw the line? The law has firm criteria for personhood and Wise shows how certain non-human animals meet those criteria. Readers will be enthralled as they follow Wise's firsthand investigations of the work of the world's most famous animal experts: in Kenya with Cynthia Moss and the touchingly affectionate elephant families of Amboseli, in the mountains of Uganda with Richard Wrangham and the chimpanzees of the Kibale Forest, at MIT with Irene Pepperberg and her amazing and witty gray parrot, Alex, and in the California sanctuary where Penny Paterson has spent two decades learning about the skills and vivid personality of Koko the gorilla. In many cases, Wise was even able to sustain an extended conversation with these extraordinary creatures. Steven Wise is the world's foremost expert on the legal rights of animals and has devoted his life to litigating, writing, and working on their behalf. No one with a shred of curiosity about animals, about rights, or about justice will want to miss this book. A Merloyd Lawrence Book
336 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2002
5 people are currently reading
488 people want to read
About the author
Steven M. Wise
11 books24 followersSteven M. Wise (born 1952) is an American legal scholar who specializes in animal protection issues, primatology, and animal intelligence. He teaches animal rights law at Harvard Law School, Vermont Law School, John Marshall Law School, Lewis & Clark Law School, and Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. He is a former president of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and founder and president of the Nonhuman Rights Project. The Yale Law Journal has called him "one of the pistons of the animal rights movement."
Wise is the author of An American Trilogy (2009), in which he tells the story of how a piece of land in Tar Heel, North Carolina, was first the home of Native Americans until they were driven into near-extinction, then a slave plantation, and finally the site of factory hog farms and the world's largest slaughterhouse. Though the Heavens May Fall (2005), recounts the 1772 trial in England of James Somersett, a black man rescued from a ship heading for the West Indies slave markets, which gave impetus to the movement to abolish slavery in Britain and the United States (see Somersett's Case). Drawing the Line (2002), which describes the relative intelligence of animals and human beings. And Rattling the Cage (2000), in which he argues that certain basic legal rights should be extended to chimpanzees and bonobos.
Wise received his undergraduate education at the College of William & Mary. While at William & Mary, Wise first became interested in politics through his involvement in the anti-Vietnam War movement. Wise was awarded his J.D from Boston University in 1976, and became a personal injury lawyer. He was inspired to move into the area of animal rights after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation (1975), often referred to as the bible of the animal liberation movement. A practicing animal protection attorney, he is president of the nonprofit Nonhuman Rights Project, where he directs its Nonhuman Rights Project, the purpose of which is to obtain basic common law rights for at least some nonhuman animals. He lives in Coral Springs, Florida.
Wise teaches “Animal Rights Jurisprudence” at the Vermont, Lewis and Clark, University of Miami, and St. Thomas Law Schools, and has taught “Animal Rights Law” at the Harvard Law School and John Marshall Law School. He is also working on a fifth book, which will be a memoir about the Nonhuman Rights Project.
He has authored numerous law review, encyclopedia, and popular articles. His work for the legal rights of nonhuman animals was highlighted on Dateline NBC and was the subject of the documentary, A Legal Person.
He regularly travels the world lecturing on animal rights jurisprudence and the Nonhuman Rights Project, and is a frequent guest on television and radio discussing animal rights law and the Nonhuman Rights Project.
Wise is the author of An American Trilogy (2009), in which he tells the story of how a piece of land in Tar Heel, North Carolina, was first the home of Native Americans until they were driven into near-extinction, then a slave plantation, and finally the site of factory hog farms and the world's largest slaughterhouse. Though the Heavens May Fall (2005), recounts the 1772 trial in England of James Somersett, a black man rescued from a ship heading for the West Indies slave markets, which gave impetus to the movement to abolish slavery in Britain and the United States (see Somersett's Case). Drawing the Line (2002), which describes the relative intelligence of animals and human beings. And Rattling the Cage (2000), in which he argues that certain basic legal rights should be extended to chimpanzees and bonobos.
Wise received his undergraduate education at the College of William & Mary. While at William & Mary, Wise first became interested in politics through his involvement in the anti-Vietnam War movement. Wise was awarded his J.D from Boston University in 1976, and became a personal injury lawyer. He was inspired to move into the area of animal rights after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation (1975), often referred to as the bible of the animal liberation movement. A practicing animal protection attorney, he is president of the nonprofit Nonhuman Rights Project, where he directs its Nonhuman Rights Project, the purpose of which is to obtain basic common law rights for at least some nonhuman animals. He lives in Coral Springs, Florida.
Wise teaches “Animal Rights Jurisprudence” at the Vermont, Lewis and Clark, University of Miami, and St. Thomas Law Schools, and has taught “Animal Rights Law” at the Harvard Law School and John Marshall Law School. He is also working on a fifth book, which will be a memoir about the Nonhuman Rights Project.
He has authored numerous law review, encyclopedia, and popular articles. His work for the legal rights of nonhuman animals was highlighted on Dateline NBC and was the subject of the documentary, A Legal Person.
He regularly travels the world lecturing on animal rights jurisprudence and the Nonhuman Rights Project, and is a frequent guest on television and radio discussing animal rights law and the Nonhuman Rights Project.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 2, 2009
In this fascinating book by pioneering Harvard animal rights lawyer Steven Wise, the case is laid out for extending legal rights to some non-human animals. Owing to difficulties with extending legal protections to all animals with the capacity to suffer, as well as the operative reality of the legal system being a rule based deontological system, Wise opts for a non-utilitarian criterion for evaluating which animals get legal protections and which don't. Wise discusses the main schools of thought in American jurisprudence and how the law works with respect to humans. The criterion that Wise comes up with is what he calls "practical autonomy". A being is said to have practical autonomy if it: (1)has desires, (2)can intentionally act to fulfill those desires, and (3)has a sense of self sufficient to understand that they, as individuals, have desires and intentions.
Owing to obvious epistemic difficulties in esablishing whether a particular species possesses practical autonomy, Wise sets up a probablilistic scale as a way of determining the likelihood that an animal has practical autonomy. The scale ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 indicating a definite lack of practical autonomy, and 1 the definite possession of it. A score of 0.50 indicates an equal probablility that an animal does or does not have practical autonomy.
Wise uses the following test subjects for the evaluation of practical autonomy: Christopher, Wise's son; Koko, the gorilla; Marbury, Wise's dog; honeybees; Echo, the African elephant; Chantek, the orangutan; Alex, the African grey parrot; and Phoenix and Ake, the Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins.
Christopher, the first test subject, is evaluated in terms of the psychologist Jean Piaget's 6 stages of early childhood development. The 6 stages are based on experiments conducted on children under the age of 2, and involve a progression of ever greater sophisitication and problem solving capabilities until all 6 stages are reached. This serves as a useful comparison with non-human animals, because the testing is on children before the age of speach, and cognitive ethology testing must be conducted on animals who do not have a language. Neuroscientific expertise is brought in from the likes of Antonio Damasio and others, and Martha Nussbaum and other philosophers are used for their views about the role emotions have to play in who we are. Damasio's and William James' theories of self are discussed as well.
The remaining subjects are evaluated in terms of experiments in cognitive ethology. Similar cases to the specific animals in question are used as evidence, as well as more general information about the species under discussion. There are some interesting things about the animals discussed other than that which is strictly pertinent to the evaluation of practical autonomy. For instance, honeybees have the most sophisticated method of communication after humans, consisting of a number of dances indicating where food is located, the quality of the food, and locations for establishing another colony. Elephants sometimes perform a sort of burial, they cover an animal that they killed or dead elephants. All in all a very interesting book which covers a number of fascinating subjects.
Owing to obvious epistemic difficulties in esablishing whether a particular species possesses practical autonomy, Wise sets up a probablilistic scale as a way of determining the likelihood that an animal has practical autonomy. The scale ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 indicating a definite lack of practical autonomy, and 1 the definite possession of it. A score of 0.50 indicates an equal probablility that an animal does or does not have practical autonomy.
Wise uses the following test subjects for the evaluation of practical autonomy: Christopher, Wise's son; Koko, the gorilla; Marbury, Wise's dog; honeybees; Echo, the African elephant; Chantek, the orangutan; Alex, the African grey parrot; and Phoenix and Ake, the Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins.
Christopher, the first test subject, is evaluated in terms of the psychologist Jean Piaget's 6 stages of early childhood development. The 6 stages are based on experiments conducted on children under the age of 2, and involve a progression of ever greater sophisitication and problem solving capabilities until all 6 stages are reached. This serves as a useful comparison with non-human animals, because the testing is on children before the age of speach, and cognitive ethology testing must be conducted on animals who do not have a language. Neuroscientific expertise is brought in from the likes of Antonio Damasio and others, and Martha Nussbaum and other philosophers are used for their views about the role emotions have to play in who we are. Damasio's and William James' theories of self are discussed as well.
The remaining subjects are evaluated in terms of experiments in cognitive ethology. Similar cases to the specific animals in question are used as evidence, as well as more general information about the species under discussion. There are some interesting things about the animals discussed other than that which is strictly pertinent to the evaluation of practical autonomy. For instance, honeybees have the most sophisticated method of communication after humans, consisting of a number of dances indicating where food is located, the quality of the food, and locations for establishing another colony. Elephants sometimes perform a sort of burial, they cover an animal that they killed or dead elephants. All in all a very interesting book which covers a number of fascinating subjects.
March 28, 2013
(this review was originally written for Bookslut)
If you're looking for an impassioned argument for animal rights, Drawing the Line is not the book for you. If you're looking for a manifesto, a clearly drawn out list of rights and wrongs for living a life respectful of animal rights, then Drawing the Line is still not for you. But if you're looking for a well thought out discussion of animal rights, based on science and with an eye for the law... Well, then, Steven Wise's Drawing the Line is just about perfect.
Although many of his anecdotes have deep emotional appeal, Wise does not rely on tugging the heartstrings to make his case. An animal rights lawyer, his writing is careful and structured, frequently consulting the opinions of experts in the fields of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience and animal behavior. Fundamentally, his argument is a legal one, aiming to convince the law community to grant legal "dignity rights" to animals based on their capabilities.
Based on the idea that personal autonomy is not absolute, but rather can exist on a variable scale, Wise proposes extending that scale to nonhuman animals. Just as a judge would grant more rights to a fully capable adult than they might to a two-year-old child, does it not make as much sense to grant the same rights to an animal with the same ability to reason and communicate as that child? He then defines a scale of autonomy, where one is a fully autonomous human being, and zero is no autonomy, say a single-celled organism. Eight different species are discussed, concentrating on one or two well-studied examples from each, such as Koko the gorilla and Alex the grey parrot. Using standards of child development psychology, and the classic mirror self-recognition test (simply whether or not an animal can recognize that it is looking at itself in a mirror), an autonomy value is assigned to each.
For those not already well versed in the emotional and rational lives of animals, you will come away from each chapter with a new respect for the animal in question. Even the chapter on honeybees was filled with surprises. Most of us probably learned that honeybees can communicate through dances, but that they can disregard "nonsense" messages (there can't be nectar in the middle of a lake!) and their ability to apparently make collective decisions on new hive locations were truly surprising. And whose heart would not be broken by Alex the parrot's cry when left at the veterinarian for lung surgery: "Come here. I love you. I'm sorry. I want to go back."
Wise's reliance on anecdotes, while necessary, is both the book's strength and its weakness. In the chapters on elephants and orangutans, I doubt there exists a single story that I didn't read aloud to someone, anyone, who would sit still and listen. The elephant stories were mostly heart-rending, about broken family ties and emotional reactions to death. The orangutan stories, by contrast, were mostly of cleverly manipulating their human trainers and observers. The orangutans are so charismatic in fact, that Koko comes off a little dull by comparison, and the higher autonomy value given to gorillas relative to orangutans seems to be based on the gorilla's closer evolutionary relationship to humans alone. A little further justification for the higher rating would have been welcome.
But by the end of the book, what I wanted most was a list of rights and wrongs. I was completely convinced that animals should be granted dignity rights, and desperately wanted something to do about it. The stories about elephants in circuses were enough to keep me away from those, but should I now be avoiding zoos, too? What does it mean to respect the dignity rights of animals? What can I, as an individual do? Unfortunately, I'm really not the target audience for this book. However I wish that Wise would have acknowledged that it wouldn't only be judges and lawyers reading his book, and given the average citizen something to do with conviction surely acquired reading the book.
So maybe I was looking for a different sort of book when I picked up Drawing the Line. But if a manifesto is what I really wanted, I suppose I could always pick up some Jeremy Bentham or Peter Singer. Drawing the Line however, is excellent at doing what it does, which is laying a basic framework for the eventual adoption of dignity rights for non-human animals.
If you're looking for an impassioned argument for animal rights, Drawing the Line is not the book for you. If you're looking for a manifesto, a clearly drawn out list of rights and wrongs for living a life respectful of animal rights, then Drawing the Line is still not for you. But if you're looking for a well thought out discussion of animal rights, based on science and with an eye for the law... Well, then, Steven Wise's Drawing the Line is just about perfect.
Although many of his anecdotes have deep emotional appeal, Wise does not rely on tugging the heartstrings to make his case. An animal rights lawyer, his writing is careful and structured, frequently consulting the opinions of experts in the fields of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience and animal behavior. Fundamentally, his argument is a legal one, aiming to convince the law community to grant legal "dignity rights" to animals based on their capabilities.
Based on the idea that personal autonomy is not absolute, but rather can exist on a variable scale, Wise proposes extending that scale to nonhuman animals. Just as a judge would grant more rights to a fully capable adult than they might to a two-year-old child, does it not make as much sense to grant the same rights to an animal with the same ability to reason and communicate as that child? He then defines a scale of autonomy, where one is a fully autonomous human being, and zero is no autonomy, say a single-celled organism. Eight different species are discussed, concentrating on one or two well-studied examples from each, such as Koko the gorilla and Alex the grey parrot. Using standards of child development psychology, and the classic mirror self-recognition test (simply whether or not an animal can recognize that it is looking at itself in a mirror), an autonomy value is assigned to each.
For those not already well versed in the emotional and rational lives of animals, you will come away from each chapter with a new respect for the animal in question. Even the chapter on honeybees was filled with surprises. Most of us probably learned that honeybees can communicate through dances, but that they can disregard "nonsense" messages (there can't be nectar in the middle of a lake!) and their ability to apparently make collective decisions on new hive locations were truly surprising. And whose heart would not be broken by Alex the parrot's cry when left at the veterinarian for lung surgery: "Come here. I love you. I'm sorry. I want to go back."
Wise's reliance on anecdotes, while necessary, is both the book's strength and its weakness. In the chapters on elephants and orangutans, I doubt there exists a single story that I didn't read aloud to someone, anyone, who would sit still and listen. The elephant stories were mostly heart-rending, about broken family ties and emotional reactions to death. The orangutan stories, by contrast, were mostly of cleverly manipulating their human trainers and observers. The orangutans are so charismatic in fact, that Koko comes off a little dull by comparison, and the higher autonomy value given to gorillas relative to orangutans seems to be based on the gorilla's closer evolutionary relationship to humans alone. A little further justification for the higher rating would have been welcome.
But by the end of the book, what I wanted most was a list of rights and wrongs. I was completely convinced that animals should be granted dignity rights, and desperately wanted something to do about it. The stories about elephants in circuses were enough to keep me away from those, but should I now be avoiding zoos, too? What does it mean to respect the dignity rights of animals? What can I, as an individual do? Unfortunately, I'm really not the target audience for this book. However I wish that Wise would have acknowledged that it wouldn't only be judges and lawyers reading his book, and given the average citizen something to do with conviction surely acquired reading the book.
So maybe I was looking for a different sort of book when I picked up Drawing the Line. But if a manifesto is what I really wanted, I suppose I could always pick up some Jeremy Bentham or Peter Singer. Drawing the Line however, is excellent at doing what it does, which is laying a basic framework for the eventual adoption of dignity rights for non-human animals.
June 16, 2013
Amazing book.
Steven M. Wise lays out the case for increased rights for animals from a scientific standpoint. Bit by bit he examines the cognitive ability of various animals (honeybees, dogs, great apes, birds, and cetaceans) in a rather rigorous and thorough way. He doesn't shy away from controversy (though he failed to bring up some of the questionable claims involving Koko) where it arises (especially in the case of the care of dolphins) and meets a lot of the questions that would be raised head-on.
While Steven M. Wise makes an excellent case for animal rights, he also acknowledges the trouble it will take to put those rights in place. He acknowledges and even postulates why people find it hard to grant rights to animals, and compares it rather compellingly to the trouble America had in granting both slaves and women increased rights in their respective times of emancipation.
Fascinating read, highly recommended to anyone and everyone who has ever loved a pet.
Steven M. Wise lays out the case for increased rights for animals from a scientific standpoint. Bit by bit he examines the cognitive ability of various animals (honeybees, dogs, great apes, birds, and cetaceans) in a rather rigorous and thorough way. He doesn't shy away from controversy (though he failed to bring up some of the questionable claims involving Koko) where it arises (especially in the case of the care of dolphins) and meets a lot of the questions that would be raised head-on.
While Steven M. Wise makes an excellent case for animal rights, he also acknowledges the trouble it will take to put those rights in place. He acknowledges and even postulates why people find it hard to grant rights to animals, and compares it rather compellingly to the trouble America had in granting both slaves and women increased rights in their respective times of emancipation.
Fascinating read, highly recommended to anyone and everyone who has ever loved a pet.
May 28, 2025
Fun to read blend of law and science, with a lot of fascinating facts about the smarts of honeybees, dogs, parrots, dolphins, elephants, orangutans, gorillas, and human children. He is I think overly focused on whether nonhumans can understand or use human language, which I agree is fascinating, but I would have appreciated more attention to behavior in the wild. His “autonomy value” rating is also pretty arbitrary and inconsistently applied. But still a useful read, I just wish there were an updated version.
xx-dnf-skim-reference
May 19, 2024Old. It seems less of a priority now, with that narcissistic neurotic wanting to be king of the world, and with climate change endangering the basic survival of everyone. And written by the lawyer, which is good... but does mean that I already knew the anecdotes & science from lots of previous reading. And I already agree with the basic premise.
May 2024
May 2024
February 10, 2008
This book is a sequel, conceptually, to Professor Wise's previous book, "Rattling the Cage." In "Rattling the Cage," Professor Wise laid out a rough case for the extension of some legal rights to non-human animal species. "Drawing the Line" takes as a give the information and conclusion contained in his prior book and extends the analysis to examine what types of rights need to be given, to what types of non-human animals, and on what legal basis such duties are owed to these creatures. The book travels down this path by examining a series of unique non-human lives, exploring their well-developed psychologies, language skills, and mental representations and then comparing those attributes with those of his own son, noting that if his own son is granted a whole host of rights, we cannot keep these same rights from the non-human individuals examined in his book without resorting to arguments which are explicitly speciesist. A quality read for anyone interested in non-human animal rights, but much more valuable if read in conjunction with a prior reading of his seminal work, "Rattling the Cage."
April 23, 2009
Should animals have rights similar to those afforded to humans? If so, all animals? Even down to insects? Or just companion animals. This book discusses various individual animals and their intelligence -- exceedingly interesting!
November 5, 2013
I read this book for a thesis paper in college and It was so informative and taught me that my reasoning for being a vegetarian wasn't stupid or silly but proven by science! Would defiantly recommend to anyone and everyone and I am defiantly going to read it again!!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews