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Quaestiones Infinitae Quaestiones Infinitae PUBLICATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY UTRECHT UNIVERSITY VOLUME LVI i Copyright © 2011 by Tatjana Visak All rights reserved Printed by Wöhrmann Print Service, Zutphen ISBN 9789039355657 ii KILLING HAPPY ANIMALS Explorations in utilitarian ethics Het doden van gelukkige dieren. Verkenningen binnen de utilistische ethiek (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Darf man glückliche Tiere töten? Eine Untersuchung zur utilitaristischen Ethik (mit einer Zusammenfassung in deutscher Sprache) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. G. J. van der Zwan, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op dinsdag 31 mei 2011 des ochtends te 10.30 uur door Tatjana Visak geboren op 12 december 1974 te Giessen, Duitsland iii Promotor: Prof.dr. M. Düwell Co-promotor: Dr. M. F. Verweij iv CONTENTS CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................... xi 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 2 1. Aim of this thesis ...................................................................................... 2 2. Animal-friendly animal husbandry? ....................................................... 8 3. Why utilitarianism? ................................................................................. 14 4. Do animals count morally? ................................................................... 19 5. Outline of this thesis .............................................................................. 21 2. UTILITARIANISM AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY ........................ 27 1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 27 2. What is a moral theory? ......................................................................... 28 3. Basic elements of utilitarianism ............................................................ 30 4. A closer look at utilitarianism ............................................................... 34 v 4.1 Defining welfare ............................................................................... 35 4.2 Aggregation of welfare .................................................................... 40 4.3 Evaluative focal points .................................................................... 44 4.4 Quantity of welfare or net benefits? .............................................. 46 4.5 Underlying Argument for welfare maximization ........................ 50 5. A controversial moral theory ................................................................ 53 6. Utilitarianism on animal husbandry ..................................................... 59 7. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 68 3. ARE ANIMALS HARMED LESS .......................................................... 72 BY DEATH? ................................................................................................... 72 1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 72 2. The relevance of future-oriented desires............................................. 74 3. Wants versus value ................................................................................. 79 4. Does psychological connectedness matter? ........................................ 82 5. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 88 4. THE REPLACEABILITY ARGUMENT ............................................. 90 1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 90 2. The underlying idea of the Replaceability Argument ........................ 91 3. Defining the Replaceability Argument: specifying the relevant conditions ..................................................................................................... 93 4. Practical implications for animal-friendly animal husbandry: can the conditions be met? ...................................................................................... 97 4.1 Do the animals have pleasant lives? .............................................. 98 4.2 What about unbalanced negative (side-) effects? ...................... 101 vi 5. The scope of the Replaceability Argument ....................................... 102 5.1 Singer’s account of welfare: desire-satisfaction account plus moral ledger model .............................................................................. 104 5.2 Singer’s account of welfare is pessimistic ................................... 109 5.3 Singer’s account of welfare is linked to a particular account of the harm of death ................................................................................. 110 5.4 Singer’s account of welfare is ad-hoc in several respects ......... 111 5.5 Singer’s account of welfare fails to restrict replaceability in the desired way ............................................................................................ 113 5.6 Singer’s most recent strategy ........................................................ 115 5.7 Summing up .................................................................................... 120 6. The Replaceability Argument is based on a controversial view ..... 121 7. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 123 5. TOTAL VIEW VERSUS PRIOR .......................................................... 125 EXISTENCE VIEW .................................................................................... 125 1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 125 2. Whose welfare should count? ............................................................. 127 3. Prior Existence View versus Total View ........................................... 130 4. Are both views coherent utilitarian views? ....................................... 133 5. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 136 6. CAN EXISTENCE BE BETTER FOR A BEING THAN NON- EXISTENCE? ............................................................................................... 138 1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 138 2. The view that coming into existence can make a being better or worse off .................................................................................................... 139 vii 3. Are existence and non-existence commensurable? ......................... 144 4. How to decide whether the absence of any value is the same as zero value? .......................................................................................................... 147 5. For whom would non-existence have neutral value? ...................... 155 6. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 157 7. PERSON-AFFECTING RESTRICTION AND NON-IDENTITY PROBLEM ..................................................................................................... 159 1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 159 2. The Non-Identity Problem ................................................................. 161 3. The Wide Person-Affecting Restriction ............................................ 165 3.1 De dicto betterness ........................................................................... 166 3.2 A morally relevant notion of identity .......................................... 169 4. Possible criticisms ................................................................................. 177 4.1 Individuals in the wide sense cannot have interests ................. 177 4.2 The Wide Person-Affecting Restriction invites the Replaceability Argument ..................................................................... 179 5. Advantages of the Wide as opposed to the Narrow Person- Affecting Restriction ................................................................................ 180 6. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 185 8. REPUGNANT CONCLUSION AND ................................................ 187 EXPECTED MISERY ARGUMENT ..................................................... 187 1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 187 2. The role of intuitions within utilitarianism ....................................... 188 3. The Repugnant Conclusion ................................................................ 196 4. The Expected Misery Argument ........................................................ 202 viii 5. Can Prior Existence Utilitarianism account for the idea that there is something morally wrong about having the miserable child? ............ 205 6. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 217 9. VEGANISM VERSUS ANIMAL-FRIENDLY ANIMAL HUSBANDRY .............................................................................................. 219 1. Introduction .........................................................................................
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