Richard D. Ryder facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Richard D. Ryder
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Ryder in 2012
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Richard Hood Jack Dudley Ryder
3 July 1940 London, Marylebone, England
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| Known for | Advocacy of animal rights, opposition to animal research, coining of the terms speciesism and painism |
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Audrey Jane Smith
(m. 1974; div. 1999) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Granville Ryder (great-grandfather) |
Richard D. Ryder (born July 3, 1940) is an English writer, psychologist, and champion for animal rights. He became well-known in the 1970s as part of the Oxford Group. This was a group of thinkers from the University of Oxford who spoke out against using animals in ways they saw as unfair. They especially focused on factory farming and animal research.
In 1970, Ryder created the word speciesism. This term describes the idea that humans often treat other animals differently just because they are not human. From 1977 to 1979, he was the chairman of the RSPCA Council. He also helped organize the first big meeting about animal rights in 1977.
Ryder helped make laws in the UK and Europe better for animals between 1970 and 2020. He has written many books about animal research, animal rights, and how we should think about right and wrong in politics. Some of his books include Victims of Science (1975) and Animal Revolution (1989). He was also president of the RSPCA from 2020 to 2023.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Richard Hood Jack Dudley Ryder was born in London, England, on July 3, 1940. He grew up on his family's estate, Rempstone Hall, in Corfe Castle.
He went to Sherborne School in Dorset, England. Later, he studied experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge. He earned his bachelor's degree there between 1960 and 1963.
After Cambridge, Ryder researched animal behavior at Columbia University in the United States. He then earned a diploma in clinical psychology from the University of Edinburgh. He worked as a clinical psychologist at the Warneford psychiatric hospital in Oxford. In 1993, he earned his PhD from Cambridge in Social and Political Sciences.
Ryder married Audrey Jane Smith in 1974. They had two children together. They divorced in 1999.
Championing Animal Rights
The Oxford Group
Ryder first became involved in animal rights in 1969. He protested against an otter hunt in Dorset. At that time, he worked at the Warneford psychiatric hospital. He wrote letters to The Daily Telegraph newspaper, criticizing animal experiments. He knew about these experiments from his own work as an animal researcher.
Interest in animal rights was growing. This was partly because of Ruth Harrison's book Animal Machines (1964), which criticized factory farming. Also, the writer Brigid Brophy wrote a long article called "The Rights of Animals" in 1965.
Brophy saw Ryder's letters and connected him with some philosophy students at Oxford. These students were editing a book about animal rights called Animals, Men and Morals: An Inquiry into the Maltreatment of Non-humans (1971). Ryder joined this group, which he later called the "Oxford Group." He became an active supporter of animal rights, organizing meetings and handing out leaflets. He also wrote a part of the book.
Understanding Speciesism
Ryder first used the word speciesism in 1970. He put it in a leaflet he handed out in Oxford. He created the word to protest against animal testing. He felt that these experiments were illogical.
Ryder used the term to describe the idea that humans often exclude all non-human animals from the protections given to humans. This means treating animals differently just because they belong to a different species. He argued that this was as illogical as racism. He asked: "If... it were one day found possible to cross a professor of biology with an ape, would the offspring be kept in a cage or in a cradle?"
Peter Singer reviewed the book Animals, Men and Morals in 1973. He said it was a call to start an animal liberation movement. Singer later wrote his own famous book, Animal Liberation (1975). In this book, Singer used the term speciesism and gave credit to Ryder.
Singer defined speciesism as "a prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of members of one's own species and against those of members of other species." He said it was like racism and sexism. Singer's use of the word made it very popular. In 1985, speciesism was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
RSPCA Changes
The RSPCA Reform Group was started in 1970 by members of the British RSPCA. They wanted the RSPCA to focus more on big issues like factory farming, animal research, and hunting. They worked to get reformers like Ryder elected to the RSPCA's main council.
Ryder was elected to the council in 1971. He became its vice-chairman in 1976 and then chairman from 1977 to 1979.
What is Painism?
Ryder created the term painism in 1990. This idea says that any living being that can feel pain deserves to have rights. Ryder believes painism is a middle ground between two other ideas about morality: utilitarianism and deontological rights.
Painism combines the idea that moral importance comes from being able to feel pain. It also includes the rule that you should not use others just to get what you want. Ryder argues that we should always think about the pain of the individual who is suffering the most.
Ryder was featured in a 2012 movie called The Superior Human?. In the movie, he talks about how he came up with the words speciesism and painism.
Oxford Animal Laboratory
Ryder supports VERO (Voice for Ethical Research at Oxford). This group was formed in 2006 by people from Oxford University. They protested against the university building a new animal laboratory.
Selected Books
- (1975). Victims of Science: The Use of Animals in Research.
- (1989). Animal Revolution: Changing Attitudes Towards Speciesism.
- (1998). The Political Animal: The Conquest of Speciesism.
- (2001). Painism: A Modern Morality.
- (2006). Putting Morality Back into Politics.
- (2011). Speciesism, Painism and Happiness.
See also
In Spanish: Richard D. Ryder para niños
- List of animal rights advocates
- Sentiocentrism
