Leaving the ivory tower or back into theory? Learning from paradigm cases in animal ethics

H. Grimm

Leaving the ivory tower or back into theory? Learning from paradigm cases in animal ethics

于Climate change and sustainable development

著者：

H. Grimm

H. Grimm Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria; herwig.grimm@vetmeduni.ac.at

Search for other papers by H. Grimm in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

类型:: 章节

Page Range:: 439–446

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.3920/9789086867530_0069

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

€42.00€35.00 excl. VAT

Add to Cart

找回访问令牌

Ethical issues are per definition issues of public concern and interest. Media plays a vital role in presenting and shaping them. From the beginnings of modern animal ethics, paradigm cases – e.g. factory farming, laboratory animal science and fur farming – were used in the public debate and presented offensively. The moral wrong of these paradigm cases has a high plausibility in the wider public. Of course, nobody is against respectful treatment of animals. However, these paradigm cases do not raise the question of moral duties towards animals only. Further, they implicitly conflict with a wide range of values and provide the platform for the societal debate about values. Under this perspective, the character of the ongoing debate can be much better understood. Ethics can help to address moral issues in human-animal relations with explicit respect to conflicting (morally relevant) values. To focus solely on the moral status of animals in animal ethics loses sight of the related societal problem at stake. This position runs the risk of putting forward a perspective under which ethical issues in human-animal relations appear to be problems of the real world where moral outlaws mistreat animals for unworthy reasons. If our duties towards animals were the only duties we had, this view would be justified. However, this is not the case and a number of other values are at stake. Animal protection is an important value but other values like human welfare, gaining knowledge, etc. are equally important. Therefore, the moral issues of animal ethics should not be framed irrespectively of conflicting values and under the perspective of ‘the right treatment of animals’ only. In a wider sense animal ethics should use the frame of ‘normative orientation of societies’ in general. This shifts the role of animal ethics within society. I will argue in favor of a ‘healthy social distance’ or in other words ‘academic freedom’ that provides the basis for trustworthy mediation of societal conflicts without losing sight of practical demands. There is no stepping back into the ivory tower. However, looking at these issues from a distance can serve as a powerful source of philosophical insights that can be used in future practice-oriented animal ethics.

引用信息

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share Link

Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/9789086867530/BP000069.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

折叠
展开
回到页面顶端

Climate change and sustainable development

Ethical perspectives on land use and food production

ISBN:: 9789086867530

出版社:: Wageningen Academic

印刷出版日期:: 15 Nov 2012

Subjects
- Life Sciences

统计数据

	全部期间	过去一年	过去30天
摘要浏览次数	85	26	2
全文浏览次数	1	0	0
PDF下载次数	2	0	0

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

AppBar-Authors 2025

AppBar-Open Access 2025

AppBar-Product Information 2025

AppBar-Company 2025

AppBar-Contact 2025

Leaving the ivory tower or back into theory? Learning from paradigm cases in animal ethics

引用信息

Share Link

Climate change and sustainable development

Ethical perspectives on land use and food production

目录

统计数据

统计数据