This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features!
Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation

Save citation to file

Add to Collections

Name must be less than 100 characters
Unable to load your collection due to an error
Please try again

Add to My Bibliography

Unable to load your delegates due to an error
Please try again

Your saved search

Would you like email updates of new search results?
Saved Search Alert Radio Buttons
()

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

. 2022;37(3):18.
doi: 10.1007/s10539-022-09857-y. Epub 2022 May 26.

Caring animals and care ethics

Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Unit of Ethics and Human-Animal Studies, Messerli Research Institute, Vetmeduni Vienna, Uni Vienna, MedUni Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Caring animals and care ethics

Birte Wrage. Biol Philos. 2022.
. 2022;37(3):18.
doi: 10.1007/s10539-022-09857-y. Epub 2022 May 26.

Author

Affiliation

  • 1 Unit of Ethics and Human-Animal Studies, Messerli Research Institute, Vetmeduni Vienna, Uni Vienna, MedUni Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Abstract

Are there nonhuman animals who behave morally? In this paper I answer this question in the affirmative by applying the framework of care ethics to the animal morality debate. According to care ethics, empathic care is the wellspring of morality in humans. While there have been several suggestive analyses of nonhuman animals as empathic, much of the literature within the animal morality debate has marginalized analyses from the perspective of care ethics. In this paper I examine care ethics to extract its core commitments to what is required for moral care: emotional motivation that enables the intentional meeting of another's needs, and forward-looking responsibility in particular relationships. What is not required, I argue, are metarepresentational capacities or the ability to scrutinize one's reasons for action, and thus being retrospectively accountable. This minimal account of moral care is illustrated by moral practices of parental care seen in many nonhuman animal species. In response to the worry that parental care in nonhuman animals lacks all evaluation and is therefore nonmoral I point to cultural differences in human parenting and to normativity in nonhuman animals.

Keywords: Animal morality; Care ethics; Empathic care; Moral emotions; Parental care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe author has no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

References

    1. Andrews K (2013) “Ape Autonomy? Social Norms in Other Species.” In Animal Minds and Animal Ethics, edited by Klaus Petrus and Markus Wild, 173–196, Bielefeld: Transcript
    1. Andrews K. Naïve Normativity: The Social Foundation of Moral Cognition. J Am Philosophical Association. 2020;6(1):36–56. doi: 10.1017/apa.2019.30. - DOI
    1. Andrews K (2020b) The Animal Mind: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Animal Cognition. Second edition. Abingdon, Oxon / New York, NY: Routledge
    1. Andrews K, Comstock G, Crozier GKD, Donaldson S, Fenton A, John T, Johnson S, Jones RC (2018) Kymlicka W, Meynell L, Nobis N, Pena-Guzman D, and Sebo J (2018) Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers’ Brief. 1st edition. New York: Routledge
    1. Andrews K, and Gruen L (2014) “Empathy in Other Apes.” In Empathy and Morality, edited by Heidi Maibom, 193–209. Oxford University Press

LinkOut - more resources

Cite
Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.