Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
10
Conclusions
It is now time to draw conclusions and to make a note of remaining
questions.
1 Conclusions of the topic
The Total View and the Prior Existence View are two competing coherent
utilitarian views on whose welfare to take into account in the aggrega-
tion of welfare. Total Utilitarianism considers the welfare of all actual
and all possible beings. Prior Existence Utilitarianism takes into consid-
eration the welfare of all actual and all necessary beings. These are those
that do already exist and those that will definitely exist, independently
of the moral choice that is contemplated. Prior Existence Utilitarianism
does not take into account the welfare of contingent beings, i.e. those
possible beings whose existence depends on the moral choice that is
contemplated.
Total Utilitarianism and Prior Existence Utilitarianism in principle
yield different verdicts about the permissibility of killing animals that
could otherwise have had a pleasant future. Killing such 'happy animals'
is usually implied by the production of meat, dairy and eggs, in so-called
'animal-friendly' animal husbandry systems. Killing 'happy animals' is
also part of aquaculture, sports hunting, sports fishing, and the breeding
of animals for animal experimentation. In those practices, animals that
could otherwise have had a pleasant future are routinely killed on a
massive scale. It is typical for those practices that other animals replace
the animals that are killed. What is more, those latter animals would not
exist if the other animals were not killed. Furthermore, the lives of the
newly created animals are at least as pleasant as the future lives of the
killed animals would have been.
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