Note: This is an interview of mine with Tina Jauin of the Animal Scene Magazine. The article she wrote from this interview came out in the paper magazine in July this year, as well as online in the PressReader version of the July edition of Animal Scene.
TJ: What does animal ethics mean?
SRC: Animal ethics is very easy to understand. It is not as complicated as many people make it seem to be. For me, it doesn’t require philosophical theory and understanding. Even a child understands animal ethics. Animal ethics is simply about how we see animals. How we see them is how we consider them. How we consider them defines our relationship with them. It is how we treat them. If we see them as less than us, then we treat them less. The ethical treatment of animals is an expression of our understanding of their moral standing. That’s why young children easily befriend animals or at least don’t hurt them. They understand that animals are like them and can feel pain and happiness too. So basically, animal ethics is recognizing the moral standing of animals, that like ours, their lives are valuable too.
Continue reading