Volume 30, Issue 1, Spring 2008
J. M. Dieterle
Pages 51-67
Unnecessary Suffering
The philosophical literature on the ethical treatment of animals is largely divided between two distinct kinds of approaches: (1) the rights-based approach; and (2) the utilitarian approach. A third approach to the debate is possible. The general moral principle “It is wrong to cause unnecessary pain or suffering” is sufficient to render many human activities involving nonhuman animals morally wrong, provided an appropriate account of unnecessary is developed to give the principle its force. The moral principle can be easily applied to several general areas of human activity: food, research, and entertainment.