The ethics of killing animals / edited by Tatjana Višak and Robert Garner, with afterword by Peter Singer.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Višak, Tatjana, 1974-

Garner, Robert, 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Animal welfare--Moral and ethical aspects.

Animal welfare.

Animal rights--Moral and ethical aspects.

Animal rights.

Human-animal relationships--Moral and ethical aspects.

Human-animal relationships.

Physical Description:

252 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2016]

Summary:

While it is generally accepted that animal welfare matters morally, it is less clear how to morally evaluate the ending of an animal's life. It seems to matter for the animal whether it experiences pain or pleasure, or enjoyment or suffering. But does it also matter for the animal whether it lives or dies? Is a longer life better for an animal than a shorter life? If so, under what conditions is this so, and why is this the case? Is it better for an animal to live rather than never to be born at all? The Ethics of Killing Animals addresses these value-theoretical questions about animal life, death and welfare. It also discusses whether and how answers to these questions are relevant for our moral duties towards animals. Is killing animals ever morally acceptable and, if so, under what conditions? Do animals have moral rights, such as the right to life and should they be accorded legal rights? How should our moral duties towards animals inform our individual behavior and policy-making? This volume presents a collection of contributions from major thinkers in ethics and animal welfare, with a special focus on the moral evaluation of killing animals.

Contents:

pt. I : Animals and the harm of death

1. Killing as a welfare issue

2. Death, pain, and animal life

3. Is death bad for a cow?

4. The comparative badness for animals of suffering and death

5. Animal interests

6. The value of coming into existence

pt. II. Moral evaluation of killing animals

7. Do utilitarians need to accept the replaceability argument?

8. Singer on killing animals

9. A kantian case for animal rights

10. Kantian constructivism and the ethics of killing animals

pt. III. Killing animals and the politicization of normative ethics

11. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Specifying the rights of animals

12. Welfare, rights, and non-ideal theory.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-248) and index.

ISBN:

9780199396078

0199396078

9780199396085

0199396086

OCLC:

904715456

Publisher Number:

9780199396085