Abstract

Few activities divide the environmental community the way that hunting does. Opponents decry its cruelty and failure to respect animal rights, while hunting advocates cite the necessity of controlling populations of game and the naturalness of humans functioning as predators. This debate is both emotional and fiercely intellectual with environmental philosophers waging wars of words to match the protests by PETA and other anti-hunting groups. Perhaps Edward Abbey said it best: "Hunting is one of the hardest things even to think about" But think about it we must Millions of Americans hunt, killing hundreds of millions of animals every year. The morality of hunting is precisely the sort of question that any environmental ethic must address.