Full Idea
Animals exist outside the web of reciprocal rights and obligations, created by dialogue, but because they have no rights it does not mean that we have no duties towards them.
Gist of Idea
Animals are outside the community of rights, but we still have duties towards them
Source
Roger Scruton (Animal Rights and Wrongs [1996], p.97)
Book Reference
Scruton,Roger: 'Animal Rights and Wrongs' [Demos 1996], p.97
A Reaction
The modern Kantian view of animals, though Kant struggled to show why we might have any duties to animals. Is mere compassion enough to produce a duty, or is it a luxurious indulgence of our nature?