Nonhuman Animals Are Morally Responsible
American Philosophical Quarterly 56 (2):135-154 (2019)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Animals are often presumed to lack moral agency insofar as they lack the capacities for reflection or the ability to understand their motivating reasons for acting. In this paper, I argue that animals are in some cases morally responsible. First, I outline conditions of moral action, drawing from a quality of will account of moral responsibility. Second, I review recent empirical research on the capacities needed for moral action in humans and show that animals also have such capacities. I conclude that though it may be difficult to engage in the practice of holding animals morally responsible, given the communication barrier and lack of mutual understanding, some animals nevertheless act in ways for which they are morally responsible.
|
Keywords | moral responsibility agency empathy neuroatypical nonhuman animals prosocial moral psychology |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious.Timothy D. Wilson - 2002 - Harvard University Press.
Responsibility for Attitudes: Activity and Passivity in Mental Life.Angela M. Smith - 2005 - Ethics 115 (2):236-271.
View all 27 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
No citations found.
Similar books and articles
The Moral Responsibility of Children and Animals.Beth Dixon - 2008 - Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children 19 (1):20-30.
Evolving Notions of Nonhuman Personhood: Is Moral Standing Sufficient?Dorothy Riddle - 2014 - Journal of Evolution and Technology 24 (3):4-19.
Critical Examination of the Moral Status of Animals, with Particular Reference to the Practices of Factory Farming and Animal Experimentation.Rebekah Humphreys - unknown
Animals & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights.Nathan Nobis - 2016 - Open Philosophy Press.
A Compassionate Autonomy Alternative to Speciesism.Constance K. Perry - 2001 - Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 22 (3):237-246.
Necessary Conditions for Morally Responsible Animal Research.David Degrazia & Jeff Sebo - 2015 - Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 24 (4):420-430.
Does Fish Welfare Matter? On the Moral Relevance of Agency.Frederike Kaldewaij - 2013 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 26 (1):63-74.
Moral Individualism, Moral Relationalism, and Obligations to Non‐Human Animals.Todd May - 2014 - Journal of Applied Philosophy 31 (2):155-168.
Incompatibilism and the Transfer of Non-Responsibility.Justin Capes - 2016 - Philosophical Studies 173 (6):1477-1495.
Moral Animals: Can Animals Be Moral? Rowlands Mark Oxford University Press New York, NY. [REVIEW]Dan Hooley - 2014 - Journal of Animal Ethics 4 (2):86-92.
The Ability To Be Moral Fails To Show That Humans Are More Valuable Than Nonhuman Animals.Bart Gruzalski - 2004 - Essays in Philosophy 5 (2):15.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2019-05-04
Total views
83 ( #138,407 of 2,498,788 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #421,542 of 2,498,788 )
2019-05-04
Total views
83 ( #138,407 of 2,498,788 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #421,542 of 2,498,788 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads