Accidental animal crueltyI once invented a brilliant game - I'd sit at the top of the stairs and throw cat biscuits to the bottom. My cat would eat them, then I'd shake the box, and he would run up the stairs for more biscuits. Then - of course - I'd throw a biscuit back down to the bottom. I kept this going for about half an hour, amused at my little game, and all was fine until the cat vomited. I felt absolutely dreadful.
Have you accidentally been cruel to an animal?
This question has been revived from way, way, way back on the b3ta messageboard when it was all fields round here.
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rob, Thu 6 Dec 2007, 11:13)
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AncrenneBut, by that reasoning, we could extend your point like this: people have rights to property (which is what makes theft wrong); violating that right indicates being prepared to violate rights in the abstract; therefore thieves are more likely than non-thieves to become torturers. But that looks wrong; so the mere fact that rights are violated doesn't capture what's going on - not fully, anyway.
All the things you mention might indicate a violation of rights of some sort (allowing that "rights-talk" makes much sense to begin with - I'm not sure it does, but I'll leave that to one side); but they're plausibly violations of different rights. And even if they're violations of the same rights, then there might well still be differences in the intention behind the violation.
(I really am enjoying this thread, BTW! Certainly beats writing next semester's lectures... and it also demonstrates why inviting a philosopher to dinner can be quite foolhardy...)
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Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Tue 11 Dec 2007, 14:01,
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