Jonathan Leighton

“Treating a sentient being’s suffering as less important because of its species classification is to devalue the one parameter of overriding ethical importance and to give importance to features that are simply irrelevant.”
― Jonathan Leighton, The Tango of Ethics: Intuition, Rationality and the Prevention of Suffering

“Others’ consciousness is the best kept secret in the universe, masquerading in the form of physical gestures and sounds.”
― Jonathan Leighton, The Battle for Compassion: Ethics in an Apathetic Universe

“The use of animals as objects is so entrenched in human cultural practices around the world that to step aside and see things objectively requires almost a Copernican paradigm shift.”
― Jonathan Leighton, The Battle for Compassion: Ethics in an Apathetic Universe

“Philosophical enquiry is often constricted by an implicit need for arguments that are consistent with life being intrinsically worthwhile—a conclusion that we obviously want to arrive at but, if we are to be honest, is not foregone.”
― Jonathan Leighton, The Battle for Compassion: Ethics in an Apathetic Universe