“The less gifted do not exist to serve the interests of the more gifted. The former are not mere things when compared to the latter, to be used as means to the latter's ends. From the moral point of view, each of us is equal because each of us is equally a somebody, not a something, the subject-of-a-life, not a life without a subject.”

—  Tom Regan , book Empty Cages

Source: Empty Cages (2004), Ch. 3

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The less gifted do not exist to serve the interests of the more gifted. The former are not mere things when compared to…" by Tom Regan?
Tom Regan photo
Tom Regan 9
American philosopher 1938–2017

Related quotes

Léon Walras photo
Brian Jacques photo

“Imagination is a gift given to us from God and each one of us use it differently.”

Brian Jacques (1939–2011) British fiction writer known for Redwall animal fantasy novels
Anthony Robbins photo
Chinmayananda Saraswati photo

“Plan out your work Then work out your plan. The former without the latter is a sheer waste. The latter without the former is mere unproductive confusion.”

Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) Indian spiritual teacher

Quotations from Gurudev’s teachings, Chinmya Mission Chicago

Clay Shirky photo
Henry George photo

“Men must have rights before they can have equal rights. Each man has a right to use the world because he is here and wants to use the world. The equality of this right is merely a limitation arising from the presence of others with like rights. Society, in other words, does not grant, and cannot equitably withhold from any individual, the right to the use of land. That right exists before society and independently of society, belonging at birth to each individual, and ceasing only with his death.”

Henry George (1839–1897) American economist

Part I : Declaration, Ch. IV : Mr. Spencer's Confusion as to Rights
A Perplexed Philosopher (1892)
Context: Men must have rights before they can have equal rights. Each man has a right to use the world because he is here and wants to use the world. The equality of this right is merely a limitation arising from the presence of others with like rights. Society, in other words, does not grant, and cannot equitably withhold from any individual, the right to the use of land. That right exists before society and independently of society, belonging at birth to each individual, and ceasing only with his death. Society itself has no original right to the use of land. What right it has with regard to the use of land is simply that which is derived from and is necessary to the determination of the rights of the individuals who compose it. That is to say, the function of society with regard to the use of land only begins where individual rights clash, and is to secure equality between these clashing rights of individuals.

Jonas Salk photo
George D. Herron photo

“All that is good in civilization must be for the equal use of all, in order that each man may make his life most worthwhile to the common life and to himself.”

George D. Herron (1862–1925) American clergyman, writer and activist

Source: Between Caesar and Jesus (1899), p. 15

William Herschel photo

Related topics