Exploring Animal-Centered Ethics: A Comprehensive Analysis of Ethical Frameworks Prioritizing Animal Welfare and Rights

Introduction

The ethical treatment of animals has gained increasing attention over recent decades, leading to the emergence of various philosophical frameworks that prioritize animal welfare and rights. This paper aims to explore animal-centered ethics by examining several key ethical frameworks, including utilitarianism, rights-based ethics, and virtue ethics. It will investigate how these frameworks contribute to our understanding of animal welfare and rights, and will analyze their implications for policy-making, animal agriculture, and scientific research. By critically engaging with these ethical perspectives, this paper seeks to clarify the moral obligations humans have toward animals and to highlight the importance of adopting a more humane approach to their treatment.

Main Body

Utilitarianism and Animal Welfare

Utilitarianism, primarily associated with philosophers such as Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, posits that the moral worth of an action is determined by its contribution to overall happiness or utility. In the context of animal ethics, utilitarianism emphasizes the capacity of animals to experience pleasure and suffering, thereby necessitating consideration of their welfare in moral decision-making.

Bentham famously asserted that the question is not whether animals can reaso