Immanuel Kant, German philosopher to the 18th century, was the first major Western philosopher to put respect for persons as a center of moral theory, becoming the foundation for modern humanism and political liberalism. In recent years the argument has extended to animals, nonhuman things including the environment.
"As long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think, free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost and science can never regress." (Marcel Proust)
Earth is the only planet we can live.