Skepticism, Empathy, and Animal Suffering
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 10 (4):457-467 (2013)
Abstract
The suffering of nonhuman animals has become a noted factor in deciding public policy and legislative change. Yet, despite this growing concern, skepticism toward such suffering is still surprisingly common. This paper analyzes the merits of the skeptical approach, both in its moderate and extreme forms. In the first part it is claimed that the type of criterion for verification concerning the mental states of other animals posed by skepticism is overly (and, in the case of extreme skepticism, illogically) demanding. Resting on Wittgenstein and Husserl, it is argued that skepticism relies on a misguided epistemology and, thus, that key questions posed by it face the risk of absurdity. In the second part of the paper it is suggested that, instead of skepticism, empathy together with intersubjectivity be adopted. Edith Stein’s take on empathy, along with contemporary findings, are explored, and the claim is made that it is only via these two methods of understanding that the suffering of nonhuman animals can be perceived.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1007/s11673-013-9481-4
My notes
Similar books and articles
Why Animal Suffering Matters: Philosophy, Theology, and Practical Ethics.Andrew Linzey - 2009 - Oxford University Press.
Animal Suffering: An Evolutionary Approach.Gill Aitken - 2008 - Environmental Values 17 (2):165-180.
Nature Red in Tooth and Claw: Theism and the Problem of Animal Suffering.Michael Murray - 2008 - Oxford University Press.
A neuropsychological and evolutionary approach to animal consciousness and animal suffering.B. Bermond - 2001 - Animal Welfare Supplement 10:47- 62.
Animal Minds, Skepticism and the Affective Stance.Elisa Aaltola - 2010 - Teorema: International Journal of Philosophy (2):69-82.
The Relationship Between Workers and Animals in the Pork Industry: A Shared Suffering.Jocelyne Porcher - 2011 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 24 (1):3-17.
Are animals capable of deception or empathy? Implications for animal consciousness and animal welfare.S. Kuczaj, K. Tranel, M. Trone & H. Hamner Hill - 2001 - Animal Welfare. Special Issue 10:161- 173.
Knocking out pain in livestock: Can technology succeed where morality has stalled?Adam Shriver - 2009 - Neuroethics 2 (3):115-124.
Neo-Cartesianism and the Problem of Animal Suffering.Michael Murray - 2006 - Faith and Philosophy 23 (2):169-190.
The wild animal as a research animal.Jac A. A. Swart - 2004 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 17 (2):181-197.
Analytics
Added to PP
2013-10-06
Downloads
117 (#108,490)
6 months
2 (#300,644)
2013-10-06
Downloads
117 (#108,490)
6 months
2 (#300,644)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
Empirical Methods in Animal Ethics.Kirsten Persson & David Shaw - 2015 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 28 (5):853-866.
Bioethics and Nonhuman Animals.Rob Irvine, Chris Degeling & Ian Kerridge - 2013 - Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 10 (4):435-440.
“As Flies to Wanton Boys”: Dilemmas and Dodging in the Field of Nonhuman Animal Ethics.Michael A. Ashby & Leigh E. Rich - 2013 - Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 10 (4):429-433.
References found in this work
Phenomenology of Perception.Maurice Merleau-Ponty - 1962 - Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: The Humanities Press.