Download full text
(578.7Kb)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.40.2015.4.92-109
Exports for your reference manager
Why animals have an interest in freedom
Warum Tiere ein Interesse an Freiheit haben
[journal article]
Abstract Do non-human animals have an interest in sociopolitical freedom? Cochrane has recently taken up this important yet largely neglected question. He argues that animal freedom is not a relevant moral concern in itself, because animals have a merely instrumental but not an intrinsic interest in freedom ... view more
Do non-human animals have an interest in sociopolitical freedom? Cochrane has recently taken up this important yet largely neglected question. He argues that animal freedom is not a relevant moral concern in itself, because animals have a merely instrumental but not an intrinsic interest in freedom (Cochrane 2009a, 2012). This paper will argue that even if animals have a merely instrumental interest in freedom, animal freedom should nonetheless be an important goal for our relationships with animals. Drawing on recent work on the value of freedom, it will be argued that freedom is non-specifically instrumentally valuable. Accordingly, freedom is a means to other goods, but often it is not possible to identify those goods in advance or aim for them directly. Some of the reasons that make freedom non-specifically valuable for human relationships, it will be argued, also apply to relationships between humans and animals. Amongst other implications, it will be shown how this argument provides a response to those who fear that stricter animal protection policies might undermine people's freedom: A concern for freedom actually requires stricter protection policies rather than speak against them.... view less
Keywords
animal protection; value; liberalism; social relations; freedom; ethics; human being; animal
Classification
Philosophy, Ethics, Religion
General Sociology, Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Sociology, Sociological Theories
Free Keywords
animal rights; abolitionism
Document language
English
Publication Year
2015
Page/Pages
p. 92-109
Journal
Historical Social Research, 40 (2015) 4
Issue topic
Animal politics: a new research agenda in political theory
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed