Central to both arguments is the scientific recognition of animal sentience. Historically, figures like René Descartes argued that animals were mere automata—biological machines incapable of feeling pain or emotion. Modern science has thoroughly dismantled this view.
Global progress is mixed:
If you are a , the goal is the reduction of measurable suffering. You celebrate that the EU has banned battery cages and gestation crates while the US has not. You know that a hen in a cage-free barn is still suffering, but she is suffering less than she was yesterday. Central to both arguments is the scientific recognition