RT Article
T1 Can We Use Social Policy to Enhance Compliance with Moral Obligations to Animals?
JF Ethical theory and moral practice
VO 21
IS 3
SP 629
OP 647
A1 Basl, John
A1 Schouten, Gina
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2018
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1584861746
AB Those who wish to abolish or restrict the use of non-human animals in so-called factory farming and/or experimentation often argue that these animal use practices are incommensurate with animals' moral status. If sound, these arguments would establish that, as a matter of ethics or justice, we should voluntarily abstain from the immoral animal use practices in question. But these arguments can't and shouldn't be taken to establish a related conclusion: that the moral status of animals justifies political intervention to disallow or significantly diminish factory farming and animal experimentation. In this paper, we set out to do two things: First, we argue that while the arguments mentioned above may establish the moral impermissibility or injustice of the practices they condemn, they are not sufficient to justify political interventions or social policies to abolish or restrict such practices. It is one thing to argue that some moral imperative or imperative of justice exists, and quite another thing to call for the use of political power to induce compliance with that imperative. Our second task is to assess the prospects for developing an argument that is sufficient to justify political interventions to restrict or abolish the use of non-human animals in factory farming or experimentation. Beyond establishing the immorality or injustice of animal consumption or experimentation, one must show that the interventions in question constitute legitimate use of political power. Would prohibiting or discouraging animal use be legitimate? We attempt to answer this question within the context of fundamental liberal constraints on the legitimate use of coercive political power.
K1 animal ethics
K1 Animal justice
K1 Animal welfare
K1 Legitimacy
K1 Neutrality
K1 Political Philosophy
DO 10.1007/s10677-018-9895-5