 First edition cover | |
| Author | Kyle Johannsen |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subjects | |
| Genre | Philosophy |
| Publisher | Routledge |
Publication date | October 29, 2020 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Hardcover, paperback, ebook |
| Pages | 112 |
| ISBN | 978-0-429-29667-3 |
| OCLC | 1159605676 |
Wild Animal Ethics: The Moral and Political Problem of Wild Animal Suffering is a 2020 book by philosopherKyle Johannsen, published byRoutledge. The book explores whether humans have moral obligations to reducewild animal suffering and argues, from adeontological standpoint, that such duties exist. It examines sources of suffering in nature, including predation, disease, and environmental hardship, and considers possible forms of intervention, such as habitat management andgenetic engineering. Johannsen also discusses objections concerning the value of naturalness, liberty, and the ethical risks of intervention.
The work has been discussed in academic contexts, including a symposium inPhilosophia featuring commentaries byClare Palmer,Bob Fischer, Nicolas Delon, and others. Reviewers noted its contribution to debates onanimal ethics and the moral relevance of suffering in the wild, while questioning some of its assumptions and practical implications.
Johannsen examines the question of what is good about nature and argues that wild animals often experience substantial suffering. He attributes this toreproductive strategies in which most offspring die before reaching adulthood, as well as to factors such as predation, adverse weather, starvation, stress, injury, and parasitism. He also discusses attitudes toward nature, including the view that naturalness hasintrinsic value.
He then argues that humans have a collective moral obligation to intervene in nature to reduce wild animal suffering and considers the potential risks of doing so. The book explores the use of technologies such asCRISPR andgene drives for this purpose and concludes with a discussion of how intervention relates toanimal rights activism.
A symposium was held on the book in April 2021, hosted by Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law, and Ethics (APPLE) atQueens University, featuring commentaries by Nicolas Delon,Bob Fischer, Gary O'Brien, andClare Palmer.[1] These were later published in the journalPhilosophia.[2]
Nicolas Delon's commentary argues that the book largely overlooks the issues of agency and freedom. Despite this, he gives Johannsen credit for considering liberty as an issue and for favoring interventions which minimize infringements of liberty.[3]
Bob Fischer's commentary challenges Johannsen's claims onhabitat destruction in two ways. The first questions his calculation of the quantity of animals that experience overall positive lives. The second aspect acknowledges Johannsen's perspective on the balance between lives with positive and negative outcomes, but refutes the notion that this leads to his desired conclusion due to separate justifications.[4]
O'Brien's commentary takes exception with Johannsen's assertion that thenon-identity problem has no effect on the reasons to intervene in nature. He argues that large scale interventions in nature will, in turn, change the types of animals that will come into existence and, as a result, enable harms experienced by and inflicted by these individuals. In conclusion, he asserts that "by causing animals to exist, knowing that they will inflict and suffer harms, we become morally responsible for those harms."[5]
Palmer's commentary questions Johannsen's claim that naturalness, or wildness, is not intrinsically valuable and the assertion that the majority of wild animals have terrible lives. On the latter, Palmer asserts that more evidence is needed and for the former she contends that Johannsen mischaracterizes the significance of the value of wildness which could lead to conflicts with his suggested wide-scale interventions. She concludes that if he wants to gain democratic legitimacy for such interventions, he needs to give more serious attention to such conflicts.[6]
Johannsen responds to the commentaries in his paper "DefendingWild Animal Ethics". He defends his arguments regarding intrinsic value and valuing of harmful natural processes, rejecting the notion of intrinsic valuing. Johannsen evaluates intentional habitat destruction as a response to wild animal suffering, contending that it is unjustified within a moderate deontological framework. The article also examines the role of agency in wild animal wellbeing, its connection to exercise of agency, and its impact on quality of life. Furthermore, Johannsen addresses the concept of identity-affecting actions and the potential generation of secondary duties, extending considerations of rectificatory justice to interventions aimed at mitigating harm to wild animals.[2]
Jeff Sebo describes the book as "an excellent book that makes a powerful case for reducing wild animal suffering".[7]Jeff McMahan asserts that: "The suffering of animals in the wild is a serious moral issue, to which this book is a sensible, well-argued, and humane response."[7]
Elizabeth Mullineaux gave the book a positive review, stating that it presents clear and well-reasoned arguments accessible to readers without specialised knowledge of philosophy, ethics, or animal welfare. She wrote that it combines agreeable insights with challenging ideas, encouraging reflection on approaches to reducing wild animal suffering, and recommended it strongly to readers interested in the topic.[8]
The book was published as an ebook on October 29, 2020 byRoutledge in New York.[9] It was released in hardcover and paperback formats the following day.[7]
