Animal Ethics
Greg is a 31 year-old man with severe cognitive impairments, living in a supervised care facility that provides for his needs. His impairments leave him unable to speak or to reason, though he is conscious and sentient; he enjoys certain things, such as favorite foods, walks, and visits from people he knows, and he dislikes other things, such as medical tests and not being able to wander freely around his unit at night.
(a) Explain (in your own words) how Regan would use Greg’s case to raise a problem for the traditional view that although it’s morally permissible to farm and kill animals like cows and pigs (as long as it’s done humanely) or to experiment on them (as long as this research is likely to lead to medical benefits for humans), it would be deeply morally wrong to subject Greg to similar treatment (since Greg has a higher moral status than those animals).
(b) Explain (in your own words) how Singer would use Greg’s case to raise a problem for that same traditional view described above.
(c) If Regan’s criticism in (a) is correct, then we could do either of two things in order to avoid the charge of inconsistency: either continue treating animals as we do but downgrade Greg’s moral status to that of these animals, or maintain the idea that Greg has the same moral status we do but then extend that same high moral status to these other animals. Explain which path Regan takes, and why.
(d) Suppose Greg also has a terminal medical condition but his life can be extended for ten more years if we give him a certain treatment; and suppose there is a pig with comparable psychological capacities whose life can likewise be extended by ten years if it receives the same treatment. We only have the resources to treat one or the other, but not both. What does Singer’s central principle imply about how we should think about what to do? Explain.
(e) What is your own view of Greg’s moral status (or the importance of his interests), both as compared with your own moral status and as compared to that of the animals? Briefly, if this is in tension with Regan’s or Singer’s view, how might you go about defending your view against their objections? Or if your view is consistent with one of their views, what is one objection you think others with more traditional views might raise to it, and how would you respond?
