Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
What we lacked was not an acknowledgment of some basic equality between
people and animals. Nor was it our speciesism that was at fault. We were simply the
standard stone-hearted products of a society for which the living animal is merely a
transition phase on the way to becoming food. The fierce opposition of the animal
registered something that slipped through the overarching instrumentalization and ob-
jectification that we imposed on it, something that we were unprepared to digest,
which is what, perhaps, may have imprinted this memory in me.
Transforming objectification need not depend on a sweeping overthrow of our spe-
ciesist worldview. We can, if we wish, retain most of our biases and preferences. We
need only attend diligently and consistently to the beliefs that we actually hold in or-
der to perceive where our practice needs to be reformed. This topic's deflation of the
case for animals aims to show that there is nothing overly complex or morally
groundbreaking in the argument on behalf of animals. The ascription of rights to an-
imals and the endorsement of utilitarianism are unnecessary. Liberationism follows
from the simplest argument within applied ethics, one that even a child can follow:
tremendous suffering and large-scale killing take place. These can be avoided. We
need to try to do so. One can argue over (some) of the details, but if the moral lo-
gic in this rudimentary piece of reasoning is flawed, then something is fundamentally
wrong in our core moral beliefs.
Broad social transformations in some parts of the world—the eradication of slavery,
the disappearance of class-based society, the improvement in the status of women, the
tolerance for lifestyles that were violently persecuted in the past—inspire the hope
that what was once considered a universal and uncontroversial given can be ques-
tioned and substantially reformed. Abandoning convenient habits due to moral con-
cerns is never easy. But, should it occur, such can only take place after attaining
moral clarity regarding one's obligations. Animal ethics has played an important role
in this process in recent decades. We can do more.