1. Animal Suffering and Rights

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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).

5. 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)?

6. Killing animals is not morally wrong1
Kant, Aristotle, many others

7. 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.

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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. Arguments that killing animals is morally wrong2
Singer, Regan

15. 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

16. 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.