Naussbam Summary

In Naussbam’s writings, she elaborates on what it means to be a human or an animal, and how they are similar and dissimilar in the ways of compassion and humanity. The idea of entitlement is one she uses to pinpoint the major differences between the two and how humans radiate compassion and humanity. Entitlements can be classified as specific ‘freedoms’ and ‘experiences’ granted to either humans, and/or animals with a direct link to justices that are granted to each. Entitlements alone can be defined as rights that are given to one by some sort of law, whether that be a constitutional one or a morally obligatory one. When looking at a species’ entitlements, we can obtain a better idea of what rights they are given by each other and

While humans have compassion for animals, they have much more compassion for each other than they do for animals. Even though humans are considered to be extremely compassionate to animals, the lack of entitlements they give animals shows that they are much less compassionate than they first believed. Naussbam states that animals don’t ‘recognize’ their entitlements, yet they do recognize their freedoms, and therefore their entitlements and rights. Humans are seen as more ‘superior’ according to Naussbam because they are aware of the entitlements that they are given.it can be argued that animals are less deserving of compassion because they lack the acknowledgements of their entitlements. Animals though, are aware of their freedoms which inherently makes them aware of their entitlements which are directly related. Since entitlements, freedoms and rights are all affixed, we can then look more closely at the differences between animals, humans and their independent abilities to obtain justices and compassion. Overall, compassion between humans and animals is contrasted due to the vast differences in the species and their understanding of their rights and entitlements for both themselves and each