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Ethical Extensionism under Uncertainty of Sentience: Duties to Non-Human Organisms without Drawing a Line Chan, Kai Ming Adam, 1975-
Abstract
Ethical extensionism generally involves drawing one or more lines of moral standing. I argue (i) for all living organisms, there is a non-zero probability of sentience and consciousness, and (ii) we cannot justify excluding beings from consideration on the basis of uncertainty of their sentience, etc., and rather we should incorporate this uncertainty into the strength of our moral responsibilities. This use of probabilities differs critically from multi-criteria theories of moral standing and those that assign benefit of the doubt, which involve unjustified exclusions and dilutions of duties. From uncertainty rises certainty: we have duties to non-human organisms, although they may often be minor. This modification of extensionist ethics provides foundation for an environmental ethic that parallels interpersonal and animal welfare ethics, and it suggests that we owe much greater concern to ‘lower’ organisms than they are typically given. Copyright statement: This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted following peer review for publication in Environmental Values, 20: 323-346.
Item Metadata
Title |
Ethical Extensionism under Uncertainty of Sentience: Duties to Non-Human Organisms without Drawing a Line
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Creator | |
Publisher |
The White Horse Press
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Date Issued |
2013-10-22
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Description |
Ethical extensionism generally involves drawing one or more lines of moral standing. I argue (i) for all living organisms, there is a non-zero probability of sentience and consciousness, and (ii) we cannot justify excluding beings from consideration on the basis of uncertainty of their sentience, etc., and rather we should incorporate this uncertainty into the strength of our moral responsibilities. This use of probabilities differs critically from multi-criteria theories of moral standing and those that assign benefit of the doubt, which involve unjustified exclusions and dilutions of duties. From uncertainty rises certainty: we have duties to non-human organisms, although they may often be minor. This modification of extensionist ethics provides foundation for an environmental ethic that parallels interpersonal and animal welfare ethics, and it suggests that we owe much greater concern to ‘lower’ organisms than they are typically given. Copyright statement: This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted following peer review for publication in Environmental Values, 20: 323-346.
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Subject | |
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2013-10-22
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0132710
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URI | |
Affiliation | |
Citation |
Chan, K. M. A. (2011). "Ethical extensionism under uncertainty of sentience: Duties to non-human organisms without drawing a line." Environmental Values 20: 323-346.
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Publisher DOI |
10.3197/096327111X13077055165983
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Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
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Scholarly Level |
Faculty
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Copyright Holder |
The White Horse Press
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International