PHIL355 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Speciesism, Free Range, Sentience

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Philosophy at St Joseph's College
• Course: PHIL355
• Professor: Jennifer Welchman

Document Summary

Readings: singer, 1974, all animals are equal; regan, 1985, the case for animal rights. Recall: utilitarianism is an ethical theory that puts subjective welfare first. Satisfaction of preferences (ie. happiness) matters to everyone. Therefore, consequences are the most important consideration when choosing acts from an impartial point of view. Entitlement to equal consideration doesn"t depend on physical or mental equality, it depends on sentience (the capacity to suffer or enjoy) If x violates the principle of equality, then x is wrong: racism violates the principle of equality, therefore racism is wrong, speciesism is analogous to racism, therefore speciesism is wrong. Are(cid:374)"t there (cid:373)orally i(cid:373)porta(cid:374)t differe(cid:374)(cid:272)es (cid:271)et(cid:449)ee(cid:374) hu(cid:373)a(cid:374)s a(cid:374)d a(cid:374)i(cid:373)als: language (complicated system of communication including rules and symbols, sentence structure, etc. , following from that: literature, culture, philosophy, etc. Some species share similar traits to these, but there a no non-human animals which encompass all of these traits.