Animal Ethics

“The origins of clothing are not practical. They are mystical and erotic. The primitive man in the wolf-pelt was not keeping dry; he was saying: ‘Look what I killed. Aren’t I the best?’ “ — Katharine Hamnet

May 2013 – Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan unveiled her sexy new PETA campaign. In the ad, which was shot by top celebrity photographer Trevor Leighton, the newly crowned FHM Sexiest Woman in the UK appears with her naked body covered only in “reptile” paint next to the words “Exotic Skins Belong in the Jungle. Leave Wildlife out of Your Wardrobe”.

Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW)

Animal ethics is a term used in academia to describe the study of human-nonhuman relations. The subject matter includes animal rights, animal welfare, animal law, speciesism, animal cognition, the moral status of nonhuman animals, the concept of nonhuman personhood, human exceptionalism, the history of animal use, and theories of justice.

European Union (EU) set to ban animal testing for cosmetics forever / Campaign pioneers The Body Shop and Cruelty Free International celebrate after 20 years of activism.

Jan 30, 2013 — After over 20 years of campaigning, ethical beauty retailer The Body Shop and non-profit organisation Cruelty Free International are finally celebrating the end to animal testing for cosmetics in Europe with the anticipated announcement that the import and sale of animal tested cosmetic products and ingredients is to be banned in the EU on 11th March 2013.
more

Animal Welfare: achievements and challenges at the mid-point of the 2012-2015 strategy | European Commission
Download brochure on EU Animal Welfare Strategy 2012-2015 (PDF)

Animal Ethics
by Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics

• Is inspired by the work of ethicists and philosophers who have pioneered new perspectives on animals;
• Is informed by scientific work indicating that animals are sentient and possess complex systems of awareness;
• Seeks to relate these insights to how we treat animals today;
• Questions the ‘old view’ of animals as simply things, machines, tools, commodities, or resources, put here for our use, and
• Holds that all sentient beings have intrinsic value and should be treated with respect.

We cannot change the world for animals without changing our ideas about them. Philosophers have led the way in helping us to think differently about animals.
Academics should now lead the way in furthering ethical attitudes and contributing to informed public debate.
Our concern is to establish an unashamedly elite school of academics able to make an effective ethical case for animals.
The Centre is opposed to violence and illegality, and will not appoint Fellows who advocate violence or law breaking.

Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics
The world’s first academy dedicated to the ethical enhancement of the status of animals.
oxfordanimalethics.com

Animal Ethics
by the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

What place should non-human animals have in an acceptable moral system? These animals exist on the borderline of our moral concepts; the result is that we sometimes find ourselves according them a strong moral status, while at other times denying them any kind of moral status at all. For example, public outrage is strong when knowledge of “puppy mills” is made available; the thought here is that dogs deserve much more consideration than the operators of such places give them. However, when it is pointed out that the conditions in a factory farm are as bad as, if not much worse than, the conditions in a puppy mill, the usual response is that those affected are “just animals” after all, and do not merit our concern. Philosophical thinking on the moral standing of animals is diverse and can be generally grouped into three general categories: Indirect theories, direct but unequal theories, and moral equality theories.

Indirect theories deny animals moral status or equal consideration with humans due to a lack of consciousness, reason, or autonomy. Ultimately denying moral status to animals, these theories may still require not harming animals, but only because doing so causes harm to a human being’s morality. Arguments in this category have been formulated by philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, René Descartes, Thomas Aquinas, Peter Carruthers, and various religious theories.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Learn more about Animal Ethics at iep.utm.edu/animals-and-ethics/