Book contents
- Animal Ethics in the Wild
- Animal Ethics in the Wild
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Moral Considerability
- Chapter 2 Speciesism
- Chapter 3 Wild Animal Suffering
- Chapter 4 Perversity and Futility
- Chapter 5 Jeopardy
- Chapter 6 Relationality
- Chapter 7 Priority
- Chapter 8 Tractability
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Chapter 2 - Speciesism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 January 2023
- Animal Ethics in the Wild
- Animal Ethics in the Wild
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Moral Considerability
- Chapter 2 Speciesism
- Chapter 3 Wild Animal Suffering
- Chapter 4 Perversity and Futility
- Chapter 5 Jeopardy
- Chapter 6 Relationality
- Chapter 7 Priority
- Chapter 8 Tractability
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines the concept of speciesism by committing itself to an ameliorative inquiry. Accordingly, when engaging in antispeciesist theory, “speciesism” should be reserved for the unjustified instances of disadvantageous consideration or treatment of individuals, either by an appeal to species membership or by an appeal to other allegedly species-specific attributes. Next, it disputes the claim that anthropocentrism and speciesism are equivalent notions and that anthropocentrism, because it is inevitable, justifies speciesism. It then provides additional reasons for why anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric versions of speciesism are unjustified. Finally, it assesses a position that might be construed as a further instance of discrimination – modal personism. It concludes by suggesting that as an account of moral considerability, personism – modal or actual – is deeply flawed and should be rejected.
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- Animal Ethics in the WildWild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature, pp. 34 - 59Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022