Steven Wise presents a theory: Chimps have feelings and thoughts. They should also have rights. He has done extensive research into the treatment of animals, specifically chimpanzees, over the past thirty years. This real life situation explores Wise's intention to change the ethical relationship between humans and animals, particularly within reason and emotion.
I believe that all animals should have the right to be free; cows, bears, cats, humans, tigers. There is also an incredible amount of information at our fingertips proving how they are regularly mistreated by humans. Wise enforces this information throughout his speech, explaining how the battle to equalise the free rights of animals to be the same as humans has been incredibly tough due to the bias evident throughout history. Humans have increasingly viewed animals as their property, which in terms of nature is not ethically reasonable. If humans were to alter their point of view on the treatment of other animals by becoming more informed about reality, perhaps their emotions would cause them to be more sympathetic to nature.
