ABSTRACT
What do we owe to the animals? What, that is to say, do we owe them qua animal, rather than in their various possible roles as pets, watchdogs, potential sources of protein, or potential sources of knowledge on various matters of medical interest? Our usual repertoire of moral ideas does not give us a very clear answer to this question, for those ideas have been framed for dealing with our fellow humans, by and large. When we address ourselves to this nonstandard case, then, we must scrutinize those ideas rather closely. Our habit of relying on our “intuitions” will not get us far, for those intuitions, I believe, push us in different directions when we try to extend them, and extension is necessary under the circumstances.
