ABSTRACT
R. G. Frey argues that the key question is whether animals are the kind of beings who can have rights. He distinguishes two senses of “interest” and maintains that animals have interests only in the sense that things can be good or bad for them, as oil is good or bad for a tractor. Animals do not have desires, because having desires requires the having of beliefs. Beliefs require that the creature be able to distinguish between true and false beliefs, and for this distinction language is required.
