Response to Todd

Todd asked: Can species bias be attributed to all species? Or do some species not possess such an ability?

I think this question, albeit interesting, encounters a severe epistemological problem, a problem seemingly ignored by many animal rights theorists. The bottom line, though an unfortunate one, is this: we cannot know, at least not yet. The bear my kill a wolf, a dolphin may save a human, a dog may bite...we cannot yet knowingly assign a cause for their action. We can assume, yes, as Donovan does, that the same actions in non-human animals can be explained by the similarity to our actions, but this is both, I think, fallacious and hypocritical. We cannot extrapolate across species for medical testing but we can for everything else? Because a human has a species bias that is manifest in actions, this does not mean that similar actions imply a species bias in non-human animals.

That having been said, I do think that it is likely for non-human animals to possess a species bias. I refuse to reduce all animal behavior to evolution, but if animals did not have this bias, I think they would not survive as well as they do.

Question: When is it acceptable to extrapolate across species, and when is it not?