Are Humans Uniquely Distinct from Other Animals?

Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA, declared, "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." Evolutionary biologist Frans de Waal asserted that we humans are “animals not only in body but also in mind." The science blogger P. Z. Myers declared: "we [humans] aren’t any more special to the universe than a sea slug." Princeton ethicist Peter Singer has said that to favor or ascribe greater value to human beings over other animals is to be guilty of "speciesism."

Are human beings fundamentally not all that different from other living organisms? Why or why not? Does any creature have value? What are the implications of equating rats, pigs, dogs, and human beings? In a world of electrons and genes, why think that value should emerge from valueless matter--whether human or other animals?

We'll discuss these matters at our next Socrates Cafe.