Animal Suffering and Rights

Common-sense Overwhelming majority (90% area) of world population Eats meat Thinks chicken, pork and beef are delicious! Thinks it is NOT morally wrong to eat meat Less agreement: Hunting animals for sport is ? Causing suffering to an animal for fun is ? Causing suffering to animals for experimentation of commercial products (e.g. shampoo)

Facts about Health and Diet Vegetarian and Vegan Diets are healthy Meat-based Diets esp. with red meat increase risk of heart disease and certain cancers Warning: Vegan diets may have lower levels for vitamin B-12, vitamin D, calcium, zinc, and occasionally riboflavin Vegetarian diets offer a number of advantages, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein and higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, boron, folate, antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, carotenoids, and phytochemicals See ADA Position paper on Nutrition

Facts about Factory Farming 99% of all chickens, cows, and pigs live impoverished, nasty, brutal, and short lives 7 billion chickens killed / yr (US); 99% in factory farms 120 million pigs killed / yr (US); 90% in factory farms 42 million cows killed / yr (US); 80% in factory farms 100 million mice and rats killed / yr (US) in laboratories 70,000 monkeys currently in captivity (US) being experimented (over 75% of these experiments are labelled “harmful” in their project proposals; 90% if you include “minimally harmful” experiments).

Issues Is it morally wrong to kill animals for fun, sport? for food? for medical research? Is it morally wrong to make animals suffer for factory farming (increase production)?

Killing animals is not morally wrong 1 Kant, Aristotle, many others

Argument from Health Argument INVALID: argument: premise 1 is false. Nutrition found in meat and animal products in needed for survival and healthy living Humans should eat what is necessary for their survival and health So, humans should eat animal products INVALID: argument: premise 1 is false.

Moral Consideration: where do we draw the line? Humans Primates Elephants, Dolphins Cows Chicken Fish Ants, Spiders Trees Leaves Rocks

Traditional View on Animals Sharp division between humans and non-human animals, plants and inanimate objects Only humans are worthy of moral consideration Humans have special characteristics that make them superior to other animals, plants and inanimate objects Humans are rational: they can think i.e. make rational arguments! Humans are self-aware, conscious Humans can speak sophisticated languages These traits make humans worthy of moral consideration Its morally wrong to kill a human for fun because every human is rational It is not wrong to kill/destroy a rock, plant or non-human animals because they are not rational

Traditional View on Animals Only humans are worthy of moral consideration Humans have special characteristics that make them superior to other animals, plants and inanimate objects Humans are rational: they can think i.e. make rational arguments! Humans are self-aware, conscious Humans can speak sophisticated languages These traits make humans worthy of moral consideration Its morally wrong to kill a human for fun because every human is rational It is not wrong to kill/destroy a rock, plant or non-human animals because they are not rational

Traditional View on Animals Argument A being is worthy of moral consideration only if it is rational or self-conscious Non-human animals are not rational or self-conscious So, non-human animals are not worthy of any moral consideration We can treat animals any way we want! There is nothing morally wrong with killing animals for food or taste killing animals for fun: hunting/ sport causing animals to suffer in factory farms torturing animals for fun

Immanuel Kant Animals and their relations to humans are ANALOGOUS to humans and their relations to other humans Dogs provide service to humans and are loyal just as humans are loyal to other humans and provide service. A cat suffers when tortured just like a human would A mother dog suffers when its young is taken away If we abuse animals, we abuse ourselves: we become “hardened” to other human beings Its morally wrong to abuse ourselves So, its morally wrong to hurt animals

Cohen Moral Right: A moral right is a moral claim that one can exercise against another. the only individuals who HAVE rights are those who CAN exercise claims against one another “The holders of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty, governing all including themselves. In applying such rules, the holders of rights must recognize possible conflicts between what is in their own interest and what is just.” Animals are not capable of exercising claims against others, or comprehending the rules of moral duty. Some animals may be intelligent, but they still aren’t capable of grasping moral arguments or applying moral rules to determine right and wrong action, etc. And THAT is what is required in order to have rights. Therefore, animals have no rights. Since human beings are the only beings capable of exercising claims against others, only human beings have rights So, humans have rights

Arguments that killing animals is morally wrong 2 Singer, Regan

Argument that Eating Meat is Morally Wrong (Singer) Definition of utilitarianism: The morally right act is the one whose consequences maximize the total balance of pleasure (interest satisfaction) minus pain (interest frustration) when considering all beings affected Sentient beings are those that can feel pleasure and pain and have preference interests (=desires, wants) that can satisfied or frustrated Which beings? Not rocks, plants, oysters Definitely humans, dogs, cows, pigs, chickens; maybe: fish, lobsters; Equal Consideration of Interests: Identical interests must be given equal moral weight no matter in what type of being they occur i) The interest in sexual relations of a cat and a human (castration) ii) The life of a mouse and a normal adult human iii) Interest in being given laughing gas at the dentist (for an ape or a human) Definition of Speciesism: Giving moral preference to the interests of members of one's own species, over identical interests of members of a different species, solely because it is a member of your species

Argument that Eating Meat, Factory Farming and Experimentation is Morally Wrong Capacity to feel pleasure and pain/suffering entitles any creature to equal consideration of its interests. [Principle of Equality] Animals have the capacity and so are entitled to equal consideration of interest Showing animals equal consideration of their interests requires giving equal weight to their pain (and pleasure) in determining what we morally ought to do. We are morally required to do whatever will produce the greatest balance of pleasure over pain. Our current use of animals in factory farming, testing and experimentation causes them tremendous suffering that is not outweighed by the benefits it produces for humans (and animals). Therefore, it is wrong to eat meat from factory farms and experiment on animals. We ought to limit animal testing and experimentation to cases where it will produce more benefit than harm.