Animal Population Ethics

Gosseries, Axel;Meijers, Tim;et.al.
(2022) The Oxford Handbook of Population Ethics — ISBN: [978-0190907686], p. 546-568, published

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In this paper, we explore four features that could potentially render animal population axiology and ethics significantly different from human population axiology and ethics. We begin with the need for and challenges to multispecies population ethics. We then look at the claim that many animals—as opposed to humans—may not have a life worth living. We also consider whether animal species extinction raises distinct issues that differ from human extinction. Finally, we explore whether the means of shaping population size and composition meet ethical standards more easily in the case of animals than in the case of humans. Perhaps measures to reach a demographic goal have a lower bar to clear in the case of animals: restricting procreation or ending lives may be easier to justify when it comes to animals. We conclude that once we abandon (standard) speciesism, none of these four features renders animal population axiology and ethics significantly different from human population axiology and ethics.
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Gosseries, A., Meijers, T., & et al. (2022). Animal Population Ethics. In Gustaf Arrhenius, Krister Bykvist, Tim Campbell, Elizabeth Finneron-Burns (eds) (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Population Ethics (p. p. 546-568). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190907686.013.7