Philosophy 1305F/G Study Guide - Sentience
12 Apr 2013
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Bentham- not reason that matters, but whether one can suffer or not: singer develops this, having an interest predisposes suffering; p 588, the capacity for suffering and enjoying things is a prerequisite for having feelings at all . Sentience matters- ability to suffer and an interest to not suffer. We privilege the interests of humans over non-humans for reasons that are simply arbitrary. Case of the mentally challenged child: p 589. Animals cannot reason; some animals may even be able to reason better than this child. Singer argues that all of us are being specieists here. Cohens argument: mentally challenged child is part of our moral community. Singer- if you"re not going to test on children then you can"t test on animals: arbitrary, same as a racist, same as a sexist. Always consider the interests of humans and non-humans. Food issue: compare our interests to animal interests.
