Animal Welfare and the Economy of Kindness

6 Pages Posted: 18 Oct 2014

See all articles by Jonathan Crowe

Jonathan Crowe

University of Southern Queensland - School of Law and Justice

Date Written: October 17, 2014

Abstract

This talk explores the natural and cultural limits on human kindness towards strangers and non-human animals. I suggest that humans have a deep natural capacity for kindness. However, the duties imposed by this capacity are highly demanding, so we use techniques of ethical avoidance to place limits on our responsibilities. Examples of such techniques include the creation of ethical blindspots and reliance on individual and cultural forms of rationalisation. These techniques play a central role in enabling humans to avoid confronting the suffering caused to animals by practices such as factory farming.

Keywords: Kindness, sympathy, animal welfare, animal rights, rationalisation, Nietzsche, Levinas

Suggested Citation

Crowe, Jonathan, Animal Welfare and the Economy of Kindness (October 17, 2014). University of Queensland TC Beirne School of Law Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2511168 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2511168

Jonathan Crowe (Contact Author)

University of Southern Queensland - School of Law and Justice ( email )

West Street
Toowoomba, Queensland 4350
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://jonathancrowe.org/

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