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Reducing Extreme Suffering For Non-Human Animals: Enhancement Vs. Smaller Future Populations?, Magnus Vinding
Reducing Extreme Suffering For Non-Human Animals: Enhancement Vs. Smaller Future Populations?, Magnus Vinding
Between the Species
This paper argues that ethical views that place primary importance on the reduction of extreme suffering imply that, at least in theory, it can be better to allow enhanced non-human animals to come into existence rather than unenhanced non-human animals. Furthermore, they imply that it would be even better if no non-human animals came into existence at all. However, it is unclear, from the perspective of these ethical views, whether enhancement or reduction of future populations is the more effective strategy in practice, and whether it might even be better to instead pursue a seemingly more robust and less controversial …
Autonomy, Slavery, And Companion Animals, Heather M. N. Kendrick
Autonomy, Slavery, And Companion Animals, Heather M. N. Kendrick
Between the Species
I attempt to resolve the question of whether keeping animals as pets is akin to slavery by considering the significance of liberty to human beings and to nonhuman animals. I distinguish between two senses of liberty: preference liberty and autonomous liberty. Preference liberty is the freedom to satisfy the preferences that one in fact has. Autonomous liberty is the ability to satisfy the preferences that one might have regardless of whether one actually has those preferences. Preference liberty has a value for animals, but autonomous liberty is meaningless for them. As the core wrong of slavery is the restriction of …