Abstract
We treat companion animals according to one set of guidelines and so-called “meat animals” according to an opposing set of guidelines, despite the apparently significant similarities between the animals in question. I consider moral justifications offered for this disparity of treatment and show that this paradox reveals a mistake in our moral thinking. Generally, we group animals used in farming and free-living animals together as subject to the ethic of justice and distinguish both from companion animals, who are subject to the ethic of care. I argue that animals used in farming, like companion animals, should be understood as within the sphere of care.
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Notes
1. An exception would be when humans have in the past done such harm to a species that we now have a responsibility to take actions to make corrections and help the species. Although this is certainly an important exception, I will leave it aside here.
2. This is documented and discussed in Karen Davis (
1995
).3. See Brian Luke’s (
1995
) discussion of this.References
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.Copyright 2011 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
2011
