Wild animal suffering: Difference between revisions
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'''Wild animal suffering''' (WAS) is a term |
'''Wild animal suffering''' (WAS) is a term used to describe the suffering of wild animals due to natural processes, although the term could also be used for “unnantural” instances of wild animal suffering, such as when wild animals suffer due to human activity. |
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The issue has recently received much focus from academics<ref>{{cite web|title=Papers by Dr. Oscar Horta|url=http://usc-es.academia.edu/OscarHorta/Papers}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=McMahan|first=Jeff|title=The Meat Eaters|url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/the-meat-eaters/|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>, and is now starting to gain the interest of animal protection activists<ref>{{cite web|title=Wild-Animal Suffering|url=http://www.effectiveanimalactivism.org/wild}}</ref> . |
The issue has recently received much focus from academics<ref>{{cite web|title=Papers by Dr. Oscar Horta|url=http://usc-es.academia.edu/OscarHorta/Papers}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=McMahan|first=Jeff|title=The Meat Eaters|url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/the-meat-eaters/|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>, and is now starting to gain the interest of animal protection activists<ref>{{cite web|title=Wild-Animal Suffering|url=http://www.effectiveanimalactivism.org/wild}}</ref> . |
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== Notable |
== Notable philosophers on wild animal suffering == |
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===John Stuart Mill=== |
===John Stuart Mill=== |
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In 1874 [[John Stuart Mill]], a British [[utilitarian]] philosopher, wrote an essay entitled "On Nature"<ref>{{cite web|last=Mill|first=John Stewart|title=On Nature|url=http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/philosophy/texts/mill_on.htm}}</ref> . Mill argues that |
In 1874 [[John Stuart Mill]], a British [[utilitarian]] philosopher, wrote an essay entitled "On Nature"<ref>{{cite web|last=Mill|first=John Stewart|title=On Nature|url=http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/philosophy/texts/mill_on.htm}}</ref> . Mill argues that nature is not moral, he writes: |
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In sober truth, nearly all the things which men are hanged or imprisoned for doing to one another, are nature's every day performances. [..] The phrases which ascribe perfection to the course of nature can only be considered as the exaggerations of poetic or devotional feeling, not intended to stand the test of a sober examination. No one, either religious or irreligious, believes that the hurtful agencies of nature, considered as a whole, promote good purposes, in any other way than by inciting human rational creatures to rise up and struggle against them. |
In sober truth, nearly all the things which men are hanged or imprisoned for doing to one another, are nature's every day performances. [..] The phrases which ascribe perfection to the course of nature can only be considered as the exaggerations of poetic or devotional feeling, not intended to stand the test of a sober examination. No one, either religious or irreligious, believes that the hurtful agencies of nature, considered as a whole, promote good purposes, in any other way than by inciting human rational creatures to rise up and struggle against them. |
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===Yew-Kwang Ng=== |
===Yew-Kwang Ng=== |
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Economist [[Yew-Kwang Ng]] published a paper in 1995 entitled "Towards welfare biology: Evolutionary economics of animal consciousness and suffering"<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ng|first=Yew-Kwang|title=Towards welfare biology: Evolutionary economics of animal consciousness and suffering|journal=Biology and Philosophy|year=1995|volume=Volume 10|issue=Issue 3|url=http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00852469?LI=true}}</ref> . In his paper Ng discusses which animals may be able to suffer, how population dynamics and [[r-selection]] cause vast amounts of suffering and how the situation of wild animals may be improved. |
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===David Pearce=== |
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David Pearce, a utilitarian and transhumanist philosopher, has written about possible ways the suffering of wild animals could be reduced<ref>{{cite web|last=Pearce|first=David|title=Reprogramming Predators|url=http://www.hedweb.com/abolitionist-project/reprogramming-predators.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Pearce|first=David|title=The End of Suffering?|url=http://www.hedweb.com/transhumanism/humanity-plus.html}}</ref>. In particular by using imunocontraception or [[genetic engineering]]. |
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===Brian Tomasik=== |
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Brian Tomasik, a utilitarian ethicist and activist, wrote essays in 2009 on wild animal suffering<ref>{{cite web|last=Tomasik|first=Brian|title=The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering|url=http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/suffering-nature.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Tomasik|first=Brian|title=Should We Intervene in Nature?|url=http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/intervene-in-nature.html}}</ref> , how we might help wild animals and also did calculations of the possible number of wild animals that exist at any instant<ref>{{cite web|last=Tomasik|first=Brian|title=How Many Wild Animals Are There?|url=http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/number-of-wild-animals.html}}</ref> . |
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===Oscar Horta=== |
===Oscar Horta=== |
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Revision as of 14:52, 11 December 2013
Wild animal suffering (WAS) is a term used to describe the suffering of wild animals due to natural processes, although the term could also be used for “unnantural” instances of wild animal suffering, such as when wild animals suffer due to human activity.
The issue has recently received much focus from academics[1][2], and is now starting to gain the interest of animal protection activists[3] .
Notable philosophers on wild animal suffering
John Stuart Mill
In 1874 John Stuart Mill, a British utilitarian philosopher, wrote an essay entitled "On Nature"[4] . Mill argues that nature is not moral, he writes:
In sober truth, nearly all the things which men are hanged or imprisoned for doing to one another, are nature's every day performances. [..] The phrases which ascribe perfection to the course of nature can only be considered as the exaggerations of poetic or devotional feeling, not intended to stand the test of a sober examination. No one, either religious or irreligious, believes that the hurtful agencies of nature, considered as a whole, promote good purposes, in any other way than by inciting human rational creatures to rise up and struggle against them.
Yew-Kwang Ng
Economist Yew-Kwang Ng published a paper in 1995 entitled "Towards welfare biology: Evolutionary economics of animal consciousness and suffering"[5] . In his paper Ng discusses which animals may be able to suffer, how population dynamics and r-selection cause vast amounts of suffering and how the situation of wild animals may be improved.
Oscar Horta
Oscar Horta, a professor of moral philosophy, has written several papers on the subject of wild animal suffering[6]. He also often presents lectures on the subject of wild animal suffering[7].
Jeff McMahan
In 2010 The New York Times published an article by Jeff McMahan, entitled "The Meat Eaters"[8] in which he argues that phasing out predation would be a moral thing to do.
Popular arguments to support the reduction of wild animal suffering
Antispeciesism
Many proponents of reducing wild animal suffering reject speciesism, as they claim it in unjustified[9]. Therefore they claim that non-human animals are morally equivalent to humans, and that if we would help humans suffering in the wild we should also help non-human animals suffering in the wild.
Rejection of the appeal to nature fallacy
The appeal to nature fallacy claims that something is good simply because it is natural, or bad simply because it is unnatural. Many proponents of reducing wild animal suffering reject this idea[10], a popular example is that a disease such as malaria is natural, but very few people would consider it good. [has oscar said something about this in a video? quote and cite]
Anti-suffering views
Those who believe that suffering is morally bad are also concerned about wild animal suffering due to the huge amount of suffering that occurs in the wild/
References
- ^ "Papers by Dr. Oscar Horta".
- ^ McMahan, Jeff. "The Meat Eaters". The New York Times.
- ^ "Wild-Animal Suffering".
- ^ Mill, John Stewart. "On Nature".
- ^ Ng, Yew-Kwang (1995). "Towards welfare biology: Evolutionary economics of animal consciousness and suffering". Biology and Philosophy. Volume 10 (Issue 3).
{{cite journal}}:|issue=has extra text (help);|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ "Papers by Dr. Oscar Horta".
- ^ "Why animal suffering is overwhelmingly prevalent in nature".
- ^ McMahan, Jeff. "The Meat Eaters". The New York Times.
- ^ Horta, Dr. Oscar. "What Is Speciesism?".
- ^ Donnelly, Ruairí. "In defence of grey squirrels".