# Objectification > A concept proposed by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, referring to an attitude or act of using an individual solely as a means to some other end. Kant's definition was later developed into discussions of the sexual objectification of women by feminist theorists opposed to pornography, including Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin. A concept proposed by the philosopher , referring to an attitude or act of using an individual solely as a means to some other end. Kant's definition was later developed into discussions of the [sexual objectification](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Sexual%20objectification.txt) of women by feminist theorists opposed to pornography, including and . ## Objectification of animals Kant originally discussed objectification only in relation to , but there is room to extend it to [animal rights](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Animal%20rights.txt). Kant believed that moral rights and duties go together, so those incapable of fulfilling duties have no rights. But , who extended Kant's philosophy to establish the [rights view](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Rights%20view.txt), argued that animals who are [subjects of a life](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Subject%20of%20a%20life.txt) have rights even if they cannot fulfill moral duties. If we accept Regan's position, an "attitude or act of using an animal who is a subject of a life solely as a means to some other end" can also be called objectification. For example, objectification of animals can include the following acts and attitudes: - Killing animals and eating their corpses. - Confining animals and watching them for human amusement. - Seeing animals merely as "cute creatures" instead of respecting them as subjects of a life. - Idealizing or deifying animals: "Unlike humans, animals aren't greedy," "Animals don't kill unnecessarily," and so on. - [Speciesist language](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Speciesist%20language.txt) that reinforces human prejudices about animals and uses them as metaphors: "betraying someone like a rat," "dirty as a pig," and so on. ## Related materials - [Animal objectification](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Animal%20objectification.txt): An article reviewing existing discussions of objectification, similarities and differences between human and animal objectification, and connections to animal rights. - [Objectification (paper)](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Objectification%20(paper.txt)): A paper on objectification by .