Are all species equal?

Journal of Applied Philosophy 15 (1):57–67 (1998)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Species egalitarianism is the view that all species have equal moral standing. To have moral standing is, at a minimum, to command respect, to be something more than a mere thing. Is there any reason to believe that all species have moral standing in even this most minimal sense? If so — that is, if all species command respect — is there any reason to believe they all command equal respect. The article summarises critical responses to Paul Taylor’s argument for species egalitarianism, then explains why other species command our respect but also why they do not command equal respect. The intuition that we should have respect for nature is part of what motivates people to embrace species egalitarianism, but one need not be a species egalitarian to have respect for nature. The article closes by questioning whether species egalitarianism is even compatible with respect for nature.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Are biological species real?Hugh Lehman - 1967 - Philosophy of Science 34 (2):157-167.
Equal respect and equal shares.David Schmidtz - 2002 - Social Philosophy and Policy 19 (1):244-274.
Species pluralism does not imply species eliminativism.Ingo Brigandt - 2003 - Philosophy of Science 70 (5):1305-1316.
What is a species, and what is not?Ernst Mayr - 1996 - Philosophy of Science 63 (2):262-277.
Biological species as natural kinds.David B. Kitts & David J. Kitts - 1979 - Philosophy of Science 46 (4):613-622.
The cladistic solution to the species problem.Mark Ridley - 1989 - Biology and Philosophy 4 (1):1-16.
A (not-so-radical) solution to the species problem.Bradley E. Wilson - 1995 - Biology and Philosophy 10 (3):339-356.
Respect for Everything.David Schmidtz - 2011 - Ethics, Policy and Environment 14 (2):127-138.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
123 (#136,076)

6 months
6 (#202,901)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

David Schmidtz
University of Arizona

Citations of this work

Respect.Robin S. Dillon - 2018 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Respect for Everything.David Schmidtz - 2011 - Ethics, Policy and Environment 14 (2):127-138.
Reverence for Life as a Viable Environmental Virtue.Jason Kawall - 2003 - Environmental Ethics 25 (4):339-358.
Nature of dignity and human dignity.Vasil Gluchman - 2017 - Human Affairs 27 (2):131-144.

View all 18 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references