s insentient machines, humans might be conditioned to treat fellow human beings the same way. Support for this argument is found in the scientific research atrocities of Nazi doctors on human subjects during the reign of fascism in Germany.
The sentimental argument claims that all sentient creatures possess moral rights. Watson quotes Singer's assessment of this argument: "There can be no reason--except the selfish desire to preserve the privileges of the exploiting group--for refusing to extend the basic principle of equality to members of other species. To avoid speciesism we must allow that beings which are similar in all relevant respects have a similar right to live" (8:1
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