Vegetarianism&;#063;

Animals and their Moral Standing, by Stephen R.L. Clark
Routledge, 1997, paperback, 13.99 pounds-- 194 pages
ISBN 0 415 13560 5
This is a collection of 12 papers written between 1978 and 1994.

Clark is a Christian philosopher who describes himself as a
radical zoophile.

The introduction gives quotations from the Bible which urge us
to live peacefully with animals and the whole of the natural
world. The papers are addressed to everyone, of any religion or
none.

When reading philosophy, I sometimes find that an author is
outlining someone else's views but I have mistaken them for
his/her own. So it is important to read carefully, and Clark's
book is difficult, but very rewarding.

Clark devotes several papers to a discussion of utilitarianism
applied to animals and humans. He does not subscribe to this
approach (roughly "actions which result in the greatest happiness
of the greatest number are the most ethical"), but he is
charitable towards them.

In the first paper "How to Calculate the Greater Good" Clark's
conclusion is:-

"I conclude that honest semi-utilitarians, even if their
fundamental distinction between animals and men is allowed, must
forego meat and other products of the factory farm, and refrain
from or seek to halt most vivisection. If they claim a continuing
right to ignore the results of utilitarian calculation in this
matter they are implicitly denying that non-human animals have
any moral standing at all". (p.15)

In the paper "Utility, Right and the Domestic Virtues" he
criticises the Human Rights and Animal Rights approach to the
moral relationship with animals because it pays too much
attention to individual rights. Clark thinks the maintenance of
an "unpoisoned biosphere" in which animals can live out their
natural lives is more important for animals than ascribing
"Rights " to them. (p.104-5)

The chapter on "The Consciousness of Animals" explores whether
or how animals can think.

(From page 145)
"Other scholars------have denied the possibility of thought
before speech"
-------"But how do (human) individuals begin to speak without
ever having thought before they spoke?"-------"Those who know
them best (because they love them best) are in no normal doubt
that babies, dogs and horses do respond and think"

This is a broad based book in which the author's concern for
animals is everywhere articulated. It is still available in
bookshops or order it for your local library.