Consequentialism and Nonhuman Animals

In Douglas W. Portmore, The Oxford Handbook of Consequentialism. New York, USA: Oup Usa. pp. 564-591 (2020)
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Abstract

Consequentialism is thought to be in significant conflict with animal rights theory because it does not regard activities such as confinement, killing, and exploitation as in principle morally wrong. Proponents of the “Logic of the Larder” argue that consequentialism results in an implausibly pro-exploitation stance, permitting us to eat farmed animals with positive well- being to ensure future such animals exist. Proponents of the “Logic of the Logger” argue that consequentialism results in an implausibly anti-conservationist stance, permitting us to exterminate wild animals with negative well-being to ensure future such animals do not exist. We argue that this conflict is overstated. Once we have properly accounted for indirect effects, such as the role that our policies play in shaping moral attitudes and behavior and the importance of accepting policies that are robust against deviation, we can see that consequentialism may converge with animal rights theory significantly, even if not entirely.

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Author Profiles

Tyler John
Longview Philanthropy
Jeff Sebo
New York University

Citations of this work

Positive Wild Animal Welfare.Heather Browning & Walter Veit - 2023 - Biology and Philosophy 38 (2):1-19.
Ethical Veganism and Free Riding.Jacob Barrett & Sarah Raskoff - 2023 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 24 (2):184-212.
Wild Animal Ethics: A Freedom-Based Approach.Eze Paez - 2023 - Ethics, Policy and Environment 26 (2):159-178.

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References found in this work

Reasons and Persons.Derek Parfit - 1984 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
Practical Ethics.Peter Singer - 1979 - New York: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Susan J. Armstrong & Richard George Botzler.
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation.Jeremy Bentham - 1780 - New York: Dover Publications. Edited by J. H. Burns & H. L. A. Hart.
Moral thinking: its levels, method, and point.R. M. Hare (ed.) - 1981 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights.Sue Donaldson & Will Kymlicka - 2011 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Will Kymlicka.

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