Abstract
For some, cultured animal products ought to be celebrated for the potential they offer to replace factory farming. Others argue that, for the same reason, there is a duty to support their production and consumption. This paper argues that the ethical status of cultured animal products ought to be assessed not just in comparison with factory farming, but also in terms of its potential to bring about interspecies justice. The claim is made that the attitudes embodied within cultured animal products show a lack of proper respect for nonhuman animals and are at odds with those required by justice. Although cultured animal products have the potential to greatly reduce harms done to nonhuman animals, this paper argues that their adoption ought to nevertheless be regarded with some regret. Using a Rawlsian framework for assessing transitional steps towards justice, the paper shows that, whilst the adoption of cultured animal products may be permissible, the case for regarding it as a duty is much weaker. For cultured meats to be permissible, it must first be shown that alternatives that respect the value of nonhuman animals as ends-in-themselves do not exist.
Acknowledgments
My thanks to several anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions, and to the participants of the Politics, Animals and Technology panel at the MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory 2021, where an early version of this paper was presented.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Special Issue: Relational Equality and Migration
- Relational Egalitarianism and Migration: An Introduction
- The Egalitarian Case for Open Borders: Moral Arbitrariness
- Postcolonial Migration and Relational Inequality: The Complexities of Positive Contact as a Relational Equality Promoting Tool
- Irregular Migrants and the Demands of Relational Equality
- Domestic Mobility and Relational Equality
- What is Wrong with Methodological Nationalism? An Argument About Discrimination
- Border Control, Migration Pathways, and Social Inequality
- ‘Not a Guest in My Country’: Immigration Background, Social Hierarchies, and the Fundamental Interest in ‘Being at Home’
- Regular Articles
- Cultured Meat as a Transitional Step Towards Interspecies Justice?
- Herod Strategy and a Social Insurance Scheme Against a Short Life: Three Challenges
- Justice for Thwarted Fathers? Problems for Retrospective Parental Rights Claims
- Defending Relational Autonomy
- Luck Egalitarianism, Exploitation, and the Normative Foundations of Socialism
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Special Issue: Relational Equality and Migration
- Relational Egalitarianism and Migration: An Introduction
- The Egalitarian Case for Open Borders: Moral Arbitrariness
- Postcolonial Migration and Relational Inequality: The Complexities of Positive Contact as a Relational Equality Promoting Tool
- Irregular Migrants and the Demands of Relational Equality
- Domestic Mobility and Relational Equality
- What is Wrong with Methodological Nationalism? An Argument About Discrimination
- Border Control, Migration Pathways, and Social Inequality
- ‘Not a Guest in My Country’: Immigration Background, Social Hierarchies, and the Fundamental Interest in ‘Being at Home’
- Regular Articles
- Cultured Meat as a Transitional Step Towards Interspecies Justice?
- Herod Strategy and a Social Insurance Scheme Against a Short Life: Three Challenges
- Justice for Thwarted Fathers? Problems for Retrospective Parental Rights Claims
- Defending Relational Autonomy
- Luck Egalitarianism, Exploitation, and the Normative Foundations of Socialism