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Essay On Morality Of Killing Animals

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The Morality of Killing Animals: An Investigation in Utilitarian Ethics.

Research Question

The killing of non-human animals remains an unsolved problem in utilitarian ethics and has generated heated debate amongst ethicists in recent times. My aim is to illuminate this issue, specifically the morality of killing animals when it is done painlessly. In doing so I plan to tackle several questions:

First, I will address whether there is anything wrong with killing in general. And if so, why?
Then I will consider whether self-consciousness plays a significant role in determining the morality of killing.
The next question will be whether non-human animals possess this quality. Here I will examine the latest research into animal mindedness.
In the case that some non-human animals lack this property, the morally of killing them should be determined as well.
Finally, utilitarian judgements are regularly criticised for being misaligned with our moral intuitions, and this seems to be the case when …show more content…

The most obvious one is the debate about the consumption of animals: is it morally justified to raise and kill animals for food? It is now widely accepted, even by many meat eaters, that the treatment of animals in factory farms is morally unjustifiable. In contrast to this, less intensive or traditional farming seems to be justified as long as the animals live, on balance, decent lives, and are killed painlessly. The justification for this position comes from the idea of replaceability. However, this position would lead to questions about environmental sustainability and resource distribution that could be enough to cause utilitarians to reject such practices. Nevertheless, the main challenge remains: can we dispose of animals as we wish so long as they do not suffer? Taking into account the amount of animals used by humans every year, this is a significant question of our

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