If proposals calling for rights for animals are on the table, why not rights for plants?

[The Straight Story]

Recognizing The Right Of Plants To Evolve

If proposals calling for rights for animals are on the table, why not rights for other living things? Plants, for instance.

After all, plants can sometimes exhibit humanlike behavior. And we're not just talking about the butterwort-flytrap hybrid in The Little Shop of Horrors. Some plants respond well to music. Some "smell" other plants. Still others seem to shrink away when touched.

Plants display remedial types of memory and possess "anoetic consciousness" — the ability of an organism to sense and to react to stimulation — writes Daniel Chamovitz in his 2012 book, What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses.

And, according to recent reports from a research team led by Australian biologist Monica Gagliano, some plants (such as chili peppers) may be able to "hear" other plants (such as sweet fennel). "We know that plants recognize what is growing next to them," Gagliano says in the University of Western Australia's University News. "There is chemical communication between them. Plants can warn other plants of a predator by releasing a chemical, and the warned plants can release chemicals to make themselves unpalatable to the predator."

...

Writing in The New York Times recently, Michael Marder, author of the forthcoming Plant-Thinking: A Philosophy of Vegetal Life, calls for "plant liberation." Plant stress, Marder points out, does not reach the same intensity, nor does it express itself in the same ways, as animal suffering. This fact, he adds, should be reflected in our practical ethics.

http://www.npr.org/2012/10/26/160940869/recognizing-the-right-of-plants-to-evolve

[diphthong]

1. And, if rights are given to plants...

... should we also consider extending rights to republicans as well?

[MattBaggins]

2. The organism has to display at least some

form of awareness and sentience.

[leveymg]

3. Here's the difference: try pruning my dog - definitely won't try that again. Roses, ok.

[theinquisitivechad]

4. The fact that an organism responds to a stimulus does not bestow sentience.

Many organisms and even inanimate objects react to their environment. Is a lightning rod alive? It transmits a current.

While some would like to draw attention to overly simplistic arguments such as your posted title in order to discredit animal rights, the fact remains that the more complex the organism, the more likely it can feel pain. We know animals can feel pain. So why would we NOT want to change how we raise them for food and reduce the pain they feel? Or limit consumption?

Your article also calls out the fact that animal suffering is different from "plant suffering".

I guess I just don't get your argument, which amounts to, "Hey, we know animals suffer, but some people say that plants suffer too, which makes both movements ridiculous, so let's just continue to vigorously harm and maim animals the way we've always done."

A real force for good in this world. Congrats.