1. The cultural premises
A problem for political philosophy : how to establish human equality
Bioethical dilemmas : who is human
After behaviorism, or How animal minds started to exist again
2. The problem of moral status
Moral agents and moral patients
In search of the criteria
Inclusionin the moral community
3. The traditional accounts
Absolute dismissal, or Descartes and God's clocks
The superiority of rational nature : how Kant created humanism
Ethics makes a turn : utilitarianism
After the inclusion
4. Speciesism
Traditional speciesism : attributing weight to biological characteristics
The correspondence approach : species as a mark of the morally relevant characteristics
An attempt to grant paradigmatic status to nonparadigmatic humans
Retreat : comparable status, different treatment
5. Welfare
When killing is wrong
The value of life : qualitative theories
The value of life : quantitative theories
Internal perspectives on prudential value
An open problem
The notion of person as an alternative solution
6. A minimal normative proposal
Human rights : sphere of reference
Human rights : essential characteristics
Human rights : justification
For an expanded theory of human rights.