One of the historical election landmarks last year had nothing to do with race or the presidency.

Rather, it had to do with

ideas about the limits of human dominion over other species.

Spain is moving to grant basic legal rights to apes. In the United States, law schools are offering courses on animal rights, fast-food restaurants including Burger King are working with animal rights groups to ease the plight of hogs and chickens in factory farms

the movement is also the product of a deep intellectual ferment pioneered by the Princeton scholar Peter Singer.

Jeremy Bentham, the philosopher who 200 years ago also advocated for women’s rights, gay rights and prison reform. He responded to Kant’s lack of interest in animals by saying: “The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”