Animal Ethics in Context by Clare Palmer PAPERBACK 9780231129053

Columbia University Press

Animal Ethics in ContextAuthor(s): Clare Palmer\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Columbia University Press, United States\nImprint: Columbia University Press\nISBN-13: 9780231129053, 978-0231129053\nSynopsis\nIt is widely agreed that because animals feel pain we should not make them suffer gratuitously. Some ethical theories go even further: because of the capacities that they possess, animals have the right not to be harmed or killed. These views concern what not to do to animals, but we also face questions about when we should, and should not, assist animals that are hungry or distressed. Should we feed a starving stray kitten? And if so, does this commit us, if we are to be consistent, to feeding wild animals during a hard winter? In this controversial book, Clare Palmer advances a theory that claims, with respect to assisting animals, that what is owed to one is not necessarily owed to all, even if animals share similar psychological capacities. Context, history, and relation can b.