Presents the latest insights and debates concerning the ethics of killing animals
Contains contributions from highly influential ethicists
Includes an afterword by Peter Singer

While it is generally accepted that animal welfare matters morally, it is less clear how to morally evaluate the ending of an animal`s life. It seems to matter for the animal whether it experiences pain or pleasure, or enjoyment or suffering. But does it also matter for the animal whether it lives or dies? Is a longer life better for an animal than a shorter life? If so, under what conditions is this so, and why is this the case? Is it better for an animal to live rather than never to be born at all? The Ethics of Killing Animals addresses these value-theoretical questions about animal life, death and welfare. It also discusses whether and how answers to these questions are relevant for our moral duties towards animals. Is killing animals ever morally acceptable and, if so, under what conditions? Do animals have moral rights, such as the right to life and should they be accorded legal rights? How should our moral duties towards animals inform our individual behavior and policy-making? This volume presents a collection of contributions from major thinkers in ethics and animal welfare, with a special focus on the moral evaluation of killing animals.

Authors:

Edited by Tatjana Visak, Postdoctoral Fellow in Philosophy, Saarland University and Mannheim University, Robert Garner, Professor of Politics, University of Leicester, and Afterword by Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University

Tatjana Visak is a postdoctoral fellow at the Philosophy Department of Mannheim University and the Philosophy Department of Saarland University, Germany.

Robert Garner is Professor of Politics at the University of Leicester.

Contributors:
Belshaw, Christopher, Philosophy Department, Open University, United Kingdom

Bradley, Ben, Philosophy Department, Syracuse University, United States of America

Cochrane, Alasdair, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

Garner, Robert, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester, United Kingdom

Holtug, Nils, Department of Media, Cognition and Communication, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Kagan, Shelly, Philosophy Department, Yale University, United States of America

Kaldewaij, Frederike, Philosophy Department, Utrecht University, the Netherlands

Kasperbauer, T.J., Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Korsgaard, Christine, Philosophy Department, Harvard University, United States of America

Luper, Steven, Department of Philosophy, Trinity University, United States of America

McMahan, Jeff, Department of Philosophy, Oxford University, United Kingdom

Sandøe, Peter, Department of Food and Resource Economics and Department of Large Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Singer, Peter, Department of Philosophy, Princeton University, United States of America and Department of Philosophy, University of Melbourne, Australia

Visak, Tatjana, Philosophy Department, Mannheim University and Philosophy Department, Saarland University, Germany

Table of Contents

List of Contributors
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction (Tatjana Visak and Robert Garner)
Part I: Animals and the Harm of Death
1. Killing as a Welfare Issue (T.J. Kasperbauer & Peter Sandøe)
2. Death, Pain and Animal Life (Christopher Belshaw)
3. Is Death Bad for a Cow? (Ben Bradley)
4. The Comparative Badness for Animals of Suffering and Death (Jeff McMahan)
5. Animal Interests (Steven Luper)
6. The Value of Coming into Existence (Nils Holtug)
Part II: Moral Evaluation of Killing Animals
7. Do Utilitarians Need to Accept the Replaceability Argument? (Tatjana Visak)
8. Singer on Killing Animals (Shelly Kagan)
9. A Kantian Case for Animal Rights (Christine Korsgaard)
10. Kantian Constructivism and the Ethics of Killing Animals (Frederike Kaldewaij)
Part III: Killing Animals and the Politicization of Normative Ethics
11. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? Specifying the Rights of Animals (Alasdair Cochrane)
12. Welfare, Rights, and Non-ideal Theory (Robert Garner)
Afterword by Peter Singer
References
Index