Animals Flashcards
(19 cards)
What are moral agents?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
Individuals who have a variety of sophisticated abilities, including in particular the ability to bring impartial moral principles to bear the determination of what morally ought to be done
What are moral patients?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
Individuals who lack the ability to control their own behaviour and therefore can’t be held accountable for what they do
What are the two types of moral patients?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
- Those who are conscious and sentient but lack mental abilities
- Those who are conscious, sentient and possess other volitional abilities (i.e. belief & memory)
What is inherent value?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
Having value in yourself
* conceptually distinct from the intrinsic value attached to experiences
What is the receptacle view of the cup analogy?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
Cup’s contents have value, cup itself does not have any value
What is the postulate of inherent value view of the cup analogy?
(Regan - The Case for Animal Rights)
The cup has a type of value that isn’t reducible to what goes in it
What are the subject-of-a-life criterion?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
To be subject-of-a-life, individual has beliefs and desires, and a consciousness
(Inherent value)
What are the two types of comparable harm?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
infliction harm - diminishes quality of life
deprivation harm - denies opportunity for satisfaction
When are two harms comparable?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
When they detract equally from an individual’s welfare
What is the miniride principle?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
When we must choose between overriding the rights of many innocents or of few who are innocent, we ought to override the rights of the few in preference to overriding the rights of many
What is the worse-off principle?
Regan - The Case for Animal Rights
We must decide to override the rights of the many or the rights of the few, and when the harm faced by the few would make them worse-off than any of the many would be if any other option were chosen, we ought to override the rights of the many
What is speciesism?
Singer - All Animals are Equal
A prejudice in favour of the interest of members of one’s own species and against other species’
What is Singer’s moral stance on suffering?
Singer - All Animals are Equal
If a being suffers, there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration
What does Singer say about the principle of equality of human beings?
(Singer - All Animals are Equal)
Not an account of actual physical, mental, or intellectual equality among humans, but rather the way in which we should treat humans - with equal consideration
What does Singer say about the principle of equality of human beings?
(Singer - All Animals are Equal)
Not an account of actual physical, mental, or intellectual equality among humans, but rather the way in which we should treat humans - with equal consideration
In what three ways do humans differ from non-human animals?
Steinbock - Speciesism and the idea of equality
1) Humans possess moral autonomy
2) Human beings can reciprocate via altruistic/moral motivations that non-human animals can’t
3) Human beings desire for self-respect
What are Frey’s 3 propositions on the differing value of human and animal life?
(Frey - Moral Standing, the Value of lives and Speciesism)
1) Animal life has some value
2) Not all animal life has the same value
3) Human life is more valuable than animal life
What are Frey’s 3 propositions on the differing value of human and animal life?
(Frey - Moral Standing, the Value of lives and Speciesism)
1) Animal life has some value
2) Not all animal life has the same value
3) Human life is more valuable than animal life
What is the unequal value thesis?
Frey - Moral Standing, the Value of lives and Speciesism
Comparative value of human and animal life (human > animal)
Not to say that animals don’t have value
