Why Animal Suffering Matters
Philosophy, Theology, and Practical Ethics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8085179 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrew Linzey (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Publication date | 2013-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | BOOK |
| Venue | Why animal suffering matters (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199351848.001.0001 |
| OpenAlex | W4233768990 |
| ISBN | 9780199351848 |
| Open Library | OL25767260M |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
How we treat animals arouses strong emotions. Many people are repulsed by photographs of cruelty to animals and respond passionately to how we make animals suffer for food, commerce, and sport. But is this, as some argue, a purely emotional issue? Are there really no rational grounds for opposing our current treatment of animals? This book argues that when analyzed impartially the rational case for extending moral solicitude to all sentient beings is much stronger than many suppose. Indeed, the book shows that many of the justifications for inflicting animal suffering in fact provide grounds for protecting them. Because animals, the argument goes, lack reason or souls or language, harming them is not an offence. The book suggests that just the opposite is true, that the inability of animals to give or withhold consent, their inability to represent their interests, their moral innocence, and their relative defenselessness all compel us not to harm them. The book further shows that the arguments in favor of three controversial practices—hunting with dogs, fur farming, and commercial sealing—cannot withstand rational critique. The book considers the economic, legal, and political issues surrounding each of these practices, appealing not to our emotions but to our reason, and shows that they are rationally unsupportable and morally repugnant. This superbly argued and deeply engaging book pioneers a new theory about why animal suffering matters, maintaining that sentient animals, like infants and young children, should be accorded a special moral status
Animal ethics · Animal rights · Argument (complex analysis · Biology · Criminology · Cruelty · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Harm · Innocence · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Psychology · Animal welfare · Djurrätt · Ethics · Legislation · Moral and ethical aspects · Moral and ethical aspects of Animal welfare · Pain · Philosophy · Suffering · Tierethik · Value systems · Law
| Citations per year | 1.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |