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47 La Consideración Moral De Los Animales No Humanos En Daniel Dorado La consideración moral de los animales no humanos Tε!λος Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios Utilitaristas-2010, XVII/1: 47-63 ISSN 1132-0877 LA CONSIDERACIÓN MORAL DE LOS ANIMALES NO HUMANOS EN LOS ÚLTIMOS CUARENTA AÑOS: UNA BIBLIOGRAFÍA ANOTADA1 DANIEL DORADO Universidad Carlos III de Madrid RESUMEN A lo largo de los últimos cuarenta años, toda una serie de autores han comenzado a dar cuenta de la cuestión de la consideración moral de los animales no humanos desde las más variadas teorías éticas. Este artículo repasa esta cuestión mediante una bibliografía anotada que abarca las principales obras dedicadas a ella durante el periodo indicado. Veremos que estas pueden caer en tres categorías distintas, en función de si tienen como objeto cuestionar las posiciones que han sido deno- minadas especistas, oponerse al cuestionamiento de estas por motivos puramente antropocéntricos, o rechazarlo por razones de carácter ecologista. Palabras clave: antropocentrismo, bibliografía, consideración moral, especismo. ABSTRACT Over the last forty years, numerous authors have started to take account of the is- sue of moral consideration of non-human animals in a wide array of ethical theory. This article looks at the issue through an annotated bibliography which covers the major works dedicated to the subject during the last three decades. We see that these works fall under three distinct categories, based on whether their objecti- ve is to question positions which have been determined speciesist, to oppose this questioning of these positions for purely anthropocentric motives, or to reject the question for ecological reasons. Keywords: anthropocentrism, bibliography, moral consideration, specieism. 1. INTRODUCCIÓN En las cuatro últimas décadas, se han publicado más de mil traba- jos académicos sobre la consideración moral de los animales no humanos, 1 Recepción: 1 de enero de 2010. Aceptación: 1 de abril de 2010. Tε!λoς, Vol. XVII/1, 2010 (47-63) 47 Daniel Dorado La consideración moral de los animales no humanos tema sobre el que existe un creciente interés tanto entre los filósofos mo- rales como en la sociedad en general. Este artículo llevará adelante un repaso por las distintas cuestiones que han sido tratadas en la literatura actual acerca de este tema. Para ello, procederá examinando esta mediante una bibliografía anotada de las principales obras sobre la cuestión edita- das en el período de tiempo indicado.2 El artículo se completa con una serie de conclusiones en las que se realiza un análisis conjunto de las obras referenciadas. El punto de partida para este examen de la literatura filosófica acerca de esta cuestión es la obra colectiva Animals, Men, and Morals: An En- quiry into the Maltreatment of Non-Humans, que puede considerarse la primera de los estudios contemporáneos sobre ética animal. Hay que seña- lar que, con anterioridad, se publicaron varios ensayos sobre la cuestión, entre los cuales se pueden destacar los siguientes: Acerca de comer carne: los animales utilizan la razón (Plutarco),3 cuyo autor falleció en el año 120; Sobre la abstinencia (Porfirio),4 escrito en el siglo III; Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (Lewis Gompertz),5 publicado inicial- mente en 1824; y Los derechos de los animales (Henry S. Salt),6 publicado inicialmente en 1892. No obstante, es a partir de la obra señalada al inicio de este párrafo cuando comenzaron a publicarse obras de manera más con- tinuada en el tiempo. Uno de los aspectos más abordados entre quienes han investigado la consideración moral de los animales no humanos es el especismo. Varios autores han caracterizado este término, pero la siguiente es la definición más satisfactoria de entre las expresadas: “[s]peciesism is discrimination against those who are not classified as belonging to one or more particular species”.7 El especismo es la discriminación que ha perjudicado y perjudica a más individuos, y la que provoca un mayor desvalor en el mundo. Hay varias formas en las que el especismo se manifiesta, siendo una de ellas el 2 Presento las veintisiete referencias por orden cronológico, según la fecha de publicación de la primera edición, para facilitar una apreciación más fácil de la evolución de las obras. La existencia de traducciones, así como de ediciones posteriores a la original que supongan una modificación significativa del contenido, se indica en la anotación. 3 Plutarco, Acerca de comer carne: los animales utilizan la razón, Palma de Mallorca: José J. de Olañeta, 2008. 86 págs. ISBN 978-84-9716-537-2. 4 Porfirio,Sobre la abstinencia, Madrid: Gredos, 1984. 234 págs. ISBN 978-84-249-0930-7. 5 Gompertz, Lewis, Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes, Sussex: Cen- taur, 1992. 160 págs. ISBN 978-0-900001-37-6. 6 Salt, Henry S., Los derechos de los animales, Madrid: Los Libros de la Catarata, 1999. 160 págs. ISBN 978-84-8319-046-3. 7 Horta, Oscar, “What Is Speciesism”, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 23, 2010, 243–66, p. 247. 48 Tε!λoς, Vol. XVII/1, 2010 (47-63) Daniel Dorado La consideración moral de los animales no humanos consumo de productos de origen animal. Sin embargo, hay otras manifes- taciones del especismo que habitualmente son pasadas por alto por parte de quienes teóricamente lo rechazan, como ocurre en el caso de los progra- mas de reproducción de animales de especies con un número reducido de individuos vivos, y en el rechazo a intervenir en la vida de los animales salvajes para reducir el desvalor en esta por parte de quienes defienden intervenir en la vida de los seres humanos con el mismo objetivo.8 Como veremos a lo largo de este artículo, esto puede dar lugar a distinciones en el ámbito de la ética animal que quizás no han sido lo suficientemente puestas de manifiesto hasta el momento. 2. UN EXAMEN BIBLIOGRÁFICO DE LA LITERATURA ACERCA DE LA CONSIDERACIÓN MORAL DE LOS ANIMALES Godlovitch, Stanley; Godlovitch, Roslind y Harris, John (eds.), Animals, Men, and Morals: An Enquiry into the Maltreatment of Non-Humans, New York: Taplinger, [1972]. 240 págs. ISBN 978-0- 8008-0272-1 Esta obra, de autoría colectiva, es la primera donde se examinan los argumentos a favor y en contra del especismo, como aquellos en torno a la relevancia moral de las capacidades cognitivas y los que proponen la sintiencia como criterio para la consideración moral. Varios autores ana- lizan la evaluación moral del uso de animales en alimentación, vestimen- ta, entretenimiento y experimentación, además de presentar alternativas. Otros analizan las condiciones sociales existentes y proponen introducir un cambio en las actitudes hacia los animales. La obra incluye los siguien- tes capítulos: “On Factory Farming” (Ruth Harrison), “Furs and Cosmetics: Too High a Price” (Muriel the Lady Dowding), “Experiments on Animals” (Richard Ryder), “Alternatives” (Terence Hegarty), “Killing for Food” (John Harris), “Beasts for Pleasure” (Maureen Duffy), “In Pursuit of a Fantasy” (Brigid Brophy), “Duties to Animals” (Leonard Nelson), “Animals and Mo- rals” (Roslind Godlovitch), “Utilities” (Stanley Godlovitch), “Strategies” (David Wood) y “Nature and Culture” (Michael Peters). Singer, Peter, Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for our Treatment of Animals, New York: New York Review, 1975. xvii, 301 págs. ISBN 978-0-394-40096-9 En este libro, Singer argumenta que la sintiencia es el único criterio moralmente relevante, por lo cual es injusto discriminar a los animales 8 Cfr. Fink, Charles K., “The Predation Argument”, Between the Species, 13(5), 2005, http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=bts Tε!λoς, Vol. XVII/1, 2010 (47-63) 49 Daniel Dorado La consideración moral de los animales no humanos en función de su especie. Describe la vida de los animales no humanos en granjas y laboratorios, infiriendo una defensa de la alimentación vegeta- riana. Mantiene que los animales incapaces de planificar su vida a largo plazo no tienen interés en vivir. Defiende la concepción agregacionista, conforme a la cual es aceptable sacrificar los intereses de un animal para evitar un daño mayor o para mejorar la situación de otros. Hay dos edi- ciones revisadas: Animal Liberation, 2nd ed., New York: New York Review of Books, 1990. xviii, 320 págs. ISBN 978-0-940322-00-4; y Animal Libe- ration, updated ed., New York: Harper Perennial, 2009. xiii, 311+32 págs. ISBN 978-0-06-171130-5. Ambas tienen traducción al español: Liberación animal, Madrid: Trotta, 1999. 336 págs. ISBN 978-84-8164-262-9; y Libe- ración animal, Madrid: Taurus, 2011. 384 págs. ISBN 978-84-306-0800-3. Clark, Stephen R. L., The Moral Status of Animals, Oxford: Claren- don Press, 1977. 221 págs. ISBN 978-0-19-824578-0 En esta obra, Clark realiza una crítica pluralista del especismo, sin comprometerse con ninguna teoría ética determinada. Las conclusiones a las que llega están basadas en varios argumentos, entre los que cabe destacar los de tipo aristotélico, conforme a los cuales solamente nos pode- mos desarrollar como agentes morales si respetamos la autorrealización de los animales no humanos. Asimismo, Clark considera argumentos que apelarían a la tradición cristiana, manteniendo que no existe una acti- tud unitaria sobre ética animal en el cristianismo; en su opinión, existe una tradición mayoritaria especista, pero también posiciones a favor de la consideración moral de los animales no humanos. Clark defiende abando- nar el consumo de animales no humanos como requisito mínimo para su consideración moral, y expone razones para rechazar los argumentos que justifican el uso de los animales no humanos como recursos. Singer, Peter, Practical Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. viii, 237 págs. ISBN 978-0-521-22920-3 En este libro, Singer examina diversos problemas fundamentales en ética aplicada desde un punto de vista utilitarista. Entre ellos, la conside- ración moral de los animales no humanos.
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