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+--- Thread: Article Should plants have rights? (food sources that lack a brain) (/thread-21630.html)
Should plants have rights? (food sources that lack a brain) - C C - Oct 20, 2026
RELATED (wikipedia): Moral circle expansion ..... Plant rights
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Should plants have rights? A conversation with Alessandra Viola
https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/04/should-plants-have-rights-conversation-alessandra-viola
EXCERPTS: In recent years, scholars across law, philosophy, environmental science, and Indigenous studies have ignited a vibrant debate over whether legal rights can—and should—be extended to plants. Rachael Petersen, Program Lead, and Russell Powell, Research & Program Specialist (both with "Thinking with Plants and Fungi") sat down with Alessandra to learn more about her passion for plant rights. Her passion grew from her reflections on the idea that plants are sentient, intelligent, and socially capable beings and from the question that naturally followed: Why don’t they have rights?
[...] Viola: Initially, people laughed when I mentioned plant rights. But the same happened with women’s suffrage or abolition. It’s important to remember that rights evolve, as they have many times in the past. These ideas take time. But when plant rights are recognized, we’d have to consider them in decisions like building projects. Should we pave over a forest for a parking lot? Is it necessary? And what about food waste? Whether we eat plants directly or animals that eat plants, all food is ultimately plant-based. Do we think about wasting lives when we throw them away? We need more study and open debate. Things will change, I’m sure of it. (MORE - details)