The Ethics Of Rearing Animals For Meat: Can Sentience Provide A Meaningful Threshold For Moral Concern? A Defence Of Compassionate Speciesism

Author: Neil Craven

Published: March 24, 2024

DOI: 10.19080/AAPS.2024.02.555594

Abstract Content: Rearing And Killing Animals For Meat Poses A Few Ethical Questions. Sentientism Holds That A Being Has Moral Status If And Only If It Is Sentient. The Philosopher Peter Singer Considers That The Suffering Of A Sentient Being Should Count Equally With The Like Suffering Of Any Other Being And Thus Prioritising Human Interests Over Those Of Non-human Animals Amounts To An Unjustifiable Speciesism. I Argue That Sentientism Is False And That Suffering And Sentience Are Separate Considerations. Prioritizing Human Interests May Be Justifiable Since Species Relativism But, A Fortiori, I Argue That We Have Ample Reasons For Endorsing And Embracing Speciesism. I Present The Case For Conscientious Omnivorism And Compassionate Speciesism.