DYREETIK

Resumé

Peter Sandøe: The Ethics of Animals

The paper is about man’s duties to animals. It

consists of two main parts. The first part is a

critical discussion of the view, influential in

western philosophy, that we have no moral

obligations to animals. Particularly two lines

of argument are discussed. This first is the

argument inspired by Aristotle and Thomas

Aquinas, that animals have no moral standing

because they lack rationality. The second

is the argument, inspired by René Descartes,

that we owe no moral consideration

to animals because they, allegedly, lack consciousness.

The author concludes that both

arguments fail, and that we ought to accept a

moral obligation to look after the interests of

animals. The second part is a discussion of

modem animal production. Broiler chickens,

battery hens, veal calves, tethered and

stalled sows and other farm animals will often

suffer and will all lack the ability to do

things which could contribute to their “positive

welfare”. The interests of these animals

are set aside so that the production can be as

efficient as possible. Consequently consumers

are able to buy very cheap meat and

other animal products. However, in the rich

part of the world there is no reason to think

that these cheap products are vital to human

interests. There is a discussion of methods

for measuring the welfare of farm animals.

Finally, there is a presentation of intitiatives

to improve the welfare of farm animals in

Denmark and the EU.