The Ethics of Killing Animals

by Tatjana Visak, Robert Garner, Peter Singer

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199396085
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Tatjana Visak is a postdoctoral fellow at the Philosophy Department of Mannheim University and the Philosophy Department of Saarland University, Germany.

Robert Garner is Professor of Politics at the University of Leicester.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction (Tatjana Visak and Robert Garner)

Part I: Animals and the Harm of Death

1. Killing as a Welfare Issue (T.J. Kasperbauer & Peter Sandøe)
2. Death, Pain and Animal Life (Christopher Belshaw)
3. Is Death Bad for a Cow? (Ben Bradley)
4. The Comparative Badness for Animals of Suffering and Death (Jeff McMahan)
5. Animal Interests (Steven Luper)
6. The Value of Coming into Existence (Nils Holtug)

Part II: Moral Evaluation of Killing Animals

7. Do Utilitarians Need to Accept the Replaceability Argument? (Tatjana Visak)
8. Singer on Killing Animals (Shelly Kagan)
9. A Kantian Case for Animal Rights (Christine Korsgaard)
10. Kantian Constructivism and the Ethics of Killing Animals (Frederike Kaldewaij)

Part III: Killing Animals and the Politicization of Normative Ethics

11. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? Specifying the Rights of Animals (Alasdair Cochrane)
12. Welfare, Rights, and Non-ideal Theory (Robert Garner)

Afterword by Peter Singer
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"...serves as a wonderful introduction to the topic and contribution to the literature...Overall, this volume has a remarkably consistent high quality for an edited collection, as well as several genuinely standout pieces...I highly recommend this book for research as well as teaching. I would go so far as to call it essential for people working on animal ethics." — Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online

"This work has much to offer anyone interested in animal studies, human-animal interactions, or ethical/moral philosophy in general, as it examines many core ideas and notable philosophical positions...it should be read comparatively across a variety of philosophical frames or used as a reference to approach the core issues it takes up…Recommended."— Choice

From the Publisher