Lots of interesting stuff over at Opposing Views. Here are a couple of great debates for you to chew on.
First, PeTA and Gary Francione take on "The Reason Foundation" and "The Center for Consumer Freedom" in:
Should We Eat Meat?
Next, Francione weighs in again, this time up against The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in:
Should We Keep Pets?
Feel free to give your own take in the comments.
Monday, March 2, 2009
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Francione's argument in support of birth control methods as a means to end the "institution of pets" doesn't follow because it stands to reason that deontological ethicists must take as a foundational premise the right to bodily security. It seems, therefore, that Francione's strained argument ends up being consequential, not deontological.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that if prior existence is truly a problem for the animal rights discourse, fundamentally changing the institution of "pets," mirroring our relationship with children, for example, is the correct option.
Furthermore, moving into Aristotelian ethics whereby a companion animals’ “telos” is understood as being fulfilled through strict birth control methods given our domestication of them.
Pets are a REALLY tricky issue (for me anyway). The problem for me is that pets are commodities, and any time you have marketable, fungible commodities, you have people cutting corners and generally exploiting them for profit. As long as there is a pet industry, animals will suffer at the hands of pet stores and puppy mills.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, of course, many companion animals are members of genuinely loving and positive relationships with humans. I credit the dogs I've had as pets - at least in part - with opening my eyes to the sentience and individual personalities of all animals. Having a friendship with an individual can be a lot more meaningful than words in a book or even videos of suffering animals.
I don't feel this is an issue I need to take an absolute stand on at this point. There are some answers I just don't have.
At the very least, if someone wants a companion animal, there's no justification for getting one anywhere other than a shelter.