Introdução aos Direitos Animais - (Prefácio e Introdução) - Gary L. Francione
Kant e Os Direitos Animais
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Transcript of Kant e Os Direitos Animais
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The 18th Century philosopher Immanuel Kantis one of historys
true titans. His philosophy on animals represented marked
progress from Descartes theory that they were mere automata
or thingsincapa!le of realpain and su"ering. Kant
acknowledged animal pain !ut still !elie#ed that they are notself-conscious and are there merely as a means to an
end. That end is man. Our duties towards animals are
merely indirect duties towards humanity.
Thus we should stri#e to treat animals well !ut not !ecause we
owe them any direct moral duty. In refraining from animal
cruelty $Kant argued that #i#isection and !utchery are %usti&ed
while sport is wanton' we culti#ate good !eha#ior towards our
fellow human !eings( If he is not to stie his human
feeling, he must practice kindness towards animals, for
he who is cruel to animals ecomes hard also in his
dealing with men. !e can "udge the heart of a man y his
treatment of animals.)nimals lacking the a!ility to %udge
cannot !e moral agents* hence they are not part of the moral
community.
Kants philosophy almost entirely informs our contemporary
analysis of serial killers( #ogarth depicts this in his
engra$ings. #e shows how cruelty grows and de$elops.
#e shows the child%s cruelty to animals, pinch the tail of
a dog or a cat& he then depicts the grown man in his cart
running o$er a child& and lastly, the culmination of
cruelty in murder.+e should !eware of the child who
tortures neigh!orhood pets !ecause one day he
may graduateto people. ,ut what if data re#ealed otherwise-
+hat if animal a!users stopped at animals- +ould this outletoraggressionrelease then !e accepta!le perhaps e#en a good for
humanity- The end $less #iolence towards humans' would %ustify
the means $cruelty to morallyirrele#ant !eings'. In that case a
Kantian world#iew would requireus to accept a child nailing a
cat to a tree for that act would presuma!ly pre#ent some future
human molestation. Distasteful e#en repulsi#e !ut since
animals must e regarded as man%s
instruments,%usti&a!le nonetheless.
http://www.examiner.com/topic/immanuel-kant/articleshttp://www.examiner.com/topic/serial-killershttp://www.examiner.com/topic/serial-killershttp://www.examiner.com/topic/immanuel-kant/articles -
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In fairness to Kant he li#ed in a Christian world almost entirely
de#oid of knowledge on the animal mind. /nlike Descartes
howe#er there are hints of am!i#alence in Kants words( The
more we come in contact with animals and oser$e their
eha$ior, the more we lo$e them, for we see how great istheir care for their young. It is then di'cult for us to e
cruel in thought e$en to a wolf.,ecause as Kant
says animal nature has analogies to human nature,we
should not shoot a dog who is no longer useful $instead
he deser$es rewardand should !e kept until he dies
naturally'. 0till for Kant only rational !eings $which animals are
not' can !e ends. This howe#er presents a large pro!lem for
Kantians.
If rationality is to !e the criterion for direct moral o!ligations
then what to do a!out humans who lack this capacity $the
philosopher Christina Ho" writes It is implausile that our
duty to feed a hungry retarded child would turn out to e
indirect and, in this respect, essentially distinct from our
duty to feed a normal child.'- If we are unprepared to make
certain disad#antaged humans means to our ends $which we
are and rightly so' then we must fore#er dismiss intelligencerelated criteria for moral rele#ance. ,enthams uote !ears
repeating( !hat else is it that should trace the
insuperale line( Is it the faculty of reason, or, perhaps,
the faculty of discourse( )ut a full-grown horse or dog is
eyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more
con$ersale animal, than an infant of a day, or a week, or
e$en a month, old. )ut suppose the case were otherwise,
what would it a$ail( the *uestion is not, +an
they reason( nor, +an thy talk( ut, +an they sufer(
+ere Kant here today he might champion animal rights.
2thological studies demonstrating animal intelligence $e#en self
awareness' would ha#e astounded him. )lso the uses that he
considered necessary $food research' are now no longer so. It is
not di3cult to imagine him espousing direct duties to animals. I
su!mit that we intuiti#ely feel that causing an animal to su"er is
wrong on its own merits* that is it matters not how the cruelty
will a"ect future !eha#ior towards other people. )nd I !elie#e
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Immanuel Kant $perhaps e#en 4ene Descartes' would see this as
a reasona!le argument.