Animal Ethics in the Wild

2022 book by Catia Faria

Animal Ethics in the Wild

Author| Catia Faria
Language| English
Subjects| Animal ethics, wild animal suffering
Published| 2022
Publisher| Cambridge University Press
Publication place| United Kingdom
Pages| 222
ISBN| 978-1-00-910063-2
OCLC| 1370190258

Animal Ethics in the Wild: Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature is a 2022 book by the philosopher Catia Faria published by Cambridge University Press. It examines wild animal suffering as a moral problem. Faria contends that if we have a moral obligation to aid those in need, we should intervene in nature to prevent or alleviate the suffering of wild animals, as long as it is practical and leads to a net positive outcome.

## Summary

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The book explores wild animal suffering as a moral issue and argues that there is a moral obligation to intervene in nature to alleviate this. It begins by establishing two main assumptions: suffering is bad, and if we can prevent or reduce suffering without causing greater harm and without jeopardizing other important values, we have an ethical obligation to do so. The first chapter emphasizes that nonhuman animals, including wild animals, are morally considerable beings due to their sentience and well-being, which should be equally valued regardless of species membership. The book contends that if death is bad for humans, it may also be bad for nonhuman animals, providing additional reasons to act on behalf of wild animals to prevent their suffering and death.

The subsequent chapters address various objections to intervention in nature, such as perversity and futility arguments, which suggest that intervention could make things worse or is bound to fail. The book rejects these objections, asserting that intervention should occur when the expected outcome is net positive for wild animals. Additionally, the concept of speciesism is examined, with the book arguing against unjustified disadvantages based on species membership. It rejects anthropocentrism as a justification for speciesism and criticizes flawed accounts of moral considerability, advocating for a broader understanding of positive obligations toward wild animals.

The book also discusses the prevalence of suffering in the lives of wild animals, detailing the ways their interests are systematically frustrated by natural events. It concludes that intervening to reduce wild animal suffering is both feasible and morally justified. Overall, the book calls for a more compassionate and proactive approach towards wild animals, urging readers to extend their ethical obligations beyond merely refraining from harm and actively intervening to help animals in need.

## Reception

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In a review, Christopher Bobier praises the book for its engaging discussion of wild animal sentience and moral considerability. He asserts that it presents a compelling case for intervening in nature to mitigate the suffering and death experienced by wild animals and that scholars from various animal-related fields, including animal ethics, environmental ethics, ecology, conservation, and animal law, would find the book to be accessible and valuable. However, he notes that the book raises important questions about the practical implications of intervention, especially for individuals living in urban areas far removed from wilderness. Additionally, while the book does not address zoos directly, he queries whether they could serve as a means to reduce suffering for some wild animals, though ethical concerns about captivity should be explored further. Overall, he commends Faria's work for its contribution to the discourse on wild animal welfare, leaving readers with deeper insights and thought-provoking inquiries.[1]

Josh Milburn's review praises the book for providing a comprehensive and rigorous philosophical argument for the notion that humans have a moral obligation to intervene in nature to reduce wild animal suffering. Milburn highlights Faria's responses to various objections raised against this, including the perversity and futility objections, which Faria counters with the "reversal test." Additionally he draws attention to Faria's response to the jeopardy objection, which suggests that intervention could jeopardize other non-suffering-based values. The review commends Faria's adept handling of relational arguments, where she identifies tensions in certain relationalist views and how she explores the issue of priority, perfectionist challenges, and the tractability of reducing wild animal suffering. Overall, Milburn notes that Faria's book offers a detailed and thought-provoking examination of the complex ethical considerations surrounding intervention in nature to alleviate wild animal suffering.[2]

The book has received endorsments from the philosophers Kyle Johannsen, Jeff McMahan, Siobhan O’Sullivan, Clare Palmer, Valéry Giroux, Núria Almiron, Paula Casal, Alasdair Cochrane, Peter Singer and Oscar Horta.[3] The biologist Marc Bekoff praised the book, stating that it should be "required reading for field researchers and anyone who spends a lot of time outdoors watching other animals".[4]

## References

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1. ^ Bobier, Christopher (2023). "Catia Faria, "Animal Ethics in the Wild: Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature"". Philosophy in Review. 43 (2): 25–27. doi:10.7202/1100432ar. ISSN 1206-5269.
2. ^ Milburn, Josh (2023). "Catia Faria, Animal Ethics in the Wild: Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2023), pp. ix + 222". Utilitas. Cambridge University Press: 1–4. doi:10.1017/S0953820823000201.
3. ^ "Animal Ethics in the Wild". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
4. ^ Bekoff, Marc (2023-07-19). "Should We Try to Alleviate the Suffering of Wild Animals?". Psychology Today. Retrieved 2023-07-20.

## Further reading

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* Katz, Tristan David (2023). "Catia Faria: Animal Ethics in the Wild". Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 26: 833–5. doi:10.1007/s10677-023-10406-z.

* v
* t
* e

Animal rights

Topics (overviews, concepts, issues, cases)

| Overviews|

* Animal rights movement
* Animal rights by country or territory
* Anarchism and animal rights
* Animal rights and punk subculture
* Animal cruelty–Holocaust analogies
* Animal rights in Indian religions
* Christianity and animal rights
* History of animal rights
* List of international animal welfare conventions
* Moral status of animals in the ancient world
* Timeline of animal welfare and rights
* Total liberation
* Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare

|

Concepts|

* Abolitionism
* Ahimsa
* Animal cognition
* Animal consciousness
* Animal ethics
* Animal–industrial complex
* Animal law
* Animal protectionism
* Animal welfare
* Animal-free agriculture
* Anthrozoology
* Argument from marginal cases
* Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness
* Carnism
* Equal consideration of interests
* Emotion in animals
* Ethics of eating meat
* Ethics of uncertain sentience
* Ethology
* Insects in ethics
* Meat paradox
* Nonviolence
* Open rescue
* Opposition to hunting
* Personism
* Replaceability argument
* Sentiocentrism
* Speciesism
* Veganism
* Vegaphobia
* Vegetarianism

Issues|

| Animal agriculture|

* Animal product
* Battery cage
* Bile bear
* Chick culling
* Concentrated animal feeding operation
* Fish farming
* Fur farming
* Fur trade
* Insect farming
* Intensive animal farming
* Intensive pig farming
* Livestock
* Poultry farming
* Slaughterhouse
* Wildlife farming
* Working animal
* Feedback (pork industry)
* Foam depopulation
* Ventilation shutdown

|

Animal testing|

* Alternatives to animal testing
* Animal testing on non-human primates
* Animal testing regulations
* Labcorp Drug Development
* Great ape research ban
* Green Scare
* Huntingdon Life Sciences
* Model organism
* Nafovanny
* Operation Backfire
* Vivisection

Animal welfare|

* Animal euthanasia
* Cruelty to animals
* Pain in animals
* Pain in amphibians
* Pain in cephalopods
* Pain in crustaceans
* Pain in fish
* Pain in invertebrates
* Pain and suffering in laboratory animals
* Welfare of farmed insects

Fishing|

* Commercial fishing
* Fishing bait
* Recreational fishing

Wild animals|

* Culling wildlife
* Hare coursing
* Hunting
* International primate trade
* Ivory trade
* Predation problem
* Seal hunting
* Wild animal suffering
* Wildlife management

Other|

* Abandoned pets
* Animal sacrifice
* Animal slaughter
* Animal trial
* Animals in sport
* Live food
* Live export

Cases|

* Brown Dog affair
* Cambridge University primates
* McLibel case
* Monkey selfie copyright dispute
* Pit of despair
* SHAC
* Silver Spring monkeys
* University of California, Riverside 1985 laboratory raid
* Unnecessary Fuss
* War of the currents

Methodologies|

* Direct Action Everywhere
* Hunt sabotage

Observances|

* World Animal Day
* World Day for the End of Speciesism
* World Day for Laboratory Animals
* World Day for the End of Fishing

Advocates (academics, writers, activists)

| Academics
and writers|

| Contemporary|

* Carol J. Adams
* Aysha Akhtar
* Kristin Andrews
* Tom Beauchamp
* Marc Bekoff
* Steven Best
* Stephen St. C. Bostock
* Paola Cavalieri
* Stephen R. L. Clark
* Alasdair Cochrane
* J. M. Coetzee
* Alice Crary
* David DeGrazia
* Daniel Dombrowski
* Sue Donaldson
* Josephine Donovan
* Joan Dunayer
* Mylan Engel
* Catia Faria
* Lawrence Finsen
* Gary L. Francione
* Robert Garner
* Valéry Giroux
* Lori Gruen
* John Hadley
* Oscar Horta
* Dale Jamieson
* Kyle Johannsen
* Melanie Joy
* Hilda Kean
* Will Kymlicka
* Renan Larue
* Thomas Lepeltier
* Andrew Linzey
* Clair Linzey
* Dan Lyons
* David Nibert
* Martha Nussbaum
* Clare Palmer
* Charles Patterson
* David Pearce
* Jessica Pierce
* Evelyn Pluhar
* Mark Rowlands
* Richard D. Ryder
* Steve F. Sapontzis
* Jeff Sebo
* Jérôme Segal
* Peter Singer
* Gary Steiner
* Cass Sunstein
* David Sztybel
* Michael Tye
* Tatjana Višak
* Paul Waldau
* Corey Lee Wrenn

|

Historical|

* Jeremy Bentham
* David Renaud Boullier
* Brigid Brophy
* Peter Buchan
* Mona Caird
* Priscilla Cohn
* Henry Crowe
* Herman Daggett
* Richard Dean
* Wilhelm Dietler
* William Hamilton Drummond
* Edward Payson Evans
* T. Forster
* John Galsworthy
* Thomas G. Gentry
* Arthur Helps
* John Hildrop
* John Zephaniah Holwell
* Soame Jenyns
* Karl Christian Friedrich Krause
* John Lawrence
* Charles R. Magel
* Jean Meslier
* Mary Midgley
* J. Howard Moore
* José Ferrater Mora
* Leonard Nelson
* Edward Nicholson
* Siobhan O'Sullivan
* Rod Preece
* Humphrey Primatt
* James Rachels
* Tom Regan
* Nathaniel Peabody Rogers
* Bernard Rollin
* Henry Stephens Salt
* Arthur Schopenhauer
* Laurids Smith
* John Styles
* Thomas Tryon
* Gary Varner
* Johann Friedrich Ludwig Volckmann
* Mary Anne Warren
* Adam Gottlieb Weigen
* Johann Heinrich Winckler
* Steven M. Wise
* Jon Wynne-Tyson
* Voltaire

Activists|

| Contemporary|

* James Aspey
* Greg Avery
* Matt Ball
* Martin Balluch
* Carole Baskin
* Barbi Twins
* Brigitte Bardot
* Gene Baur
* Yves Bonnardel
* Joey Carbstrong
* Aymeric Caron
* Jake Conroy
* Rod Coronado
* Karen Dawn
* Chris DeRose
* John Feldmann
* Bruce Friedrich
* Juliet Gellatley
* Tal Gilboa
* Antoine Goetschel
* Mark Gold
* Brigitte Gothière
* Wayne Hsiung
* Charlotte Laws
* Ronnie Lee
* Howard Lyman
* Evanna Lynch
* Bill Maher
* Keith Mann
* Jim Mason
* Dan Mathews
* Jo-Anne McArthur
* Luísa Mell
* Virginia McKenna
* Ingrid Newkirk
* Heather Nicholson
* Jack Norris
* Ric O'Barry
* David Olivier
* Alex Pacheco
* Craig Rosebraugh
* Nathan Runkle
* Jasmin Singer
* Kim Stallwood
* Lynda Stoner
* Marianne Thieme
* Darren Thurston
* Christine Townend
* Wendy Turner-Webster
* Jerry Vlasak
* Louise Wallis
* Gary Yourofsky
* That Vegan Teacher

|

Historical|

* Cleveland Amory
* Henry B. Amos
* Bob Barker
* Ernest Bell
* Edith Carrington
* Frances Power Cobbe
* Joan Court
* Karen Davis
* Royal Dixon
* Muriel Dowding
* Elizabeth Farians
* Emarel Freshel
* André Géraud
* Lewis Gompertz
* James Granger
* Nina Douglas-Hamilton
* Barry Horne
* Marie Huot
* Lizzy Lind af Hageby
* Jessie Mackay
* Norm Phelps
* Jill Phipps
* Maud Ingersoll Probasco
* Hans Ruesch
* Nell Shipman
* Henry Spira
* Andrew Tyler
* Gretchen Wyler

Movement (groups, parties)

| Groups|

| Contemporary|

* American Anti-Vivisection Society
* Animal Aid
* Animal Ethics
* Animal Justice
* Animal Justice Project
* Animal Legal Defense Fund
* Animal Liberation
* Animal Liberation Front
* Animal Rising
* AnimaNaturalis
* Anti-Vivisection Coalition
* Anonymous for the Voiceless
* Beauty Without Cruelty
* Born Free Foundation
* Centre for Animals and Social Justice
* Chinese Animal Protection Network
* Cruelty Free International
* Direct Action Everywhere
* Doctors Against Animal Experiments
* Equanimal
* Every Animal
* Farm Animal Rights Movement
* Faunalytics
* Great Ape Project
* Hunt Saboteurs Association
* In Defense of Animals
* Korea Animal Rights Advocates
* L214
* Last Chance for Animals
* Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition
* Mercy for Animals
* Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics
* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
* Rise for Animals
* Sentience Politics
* Uncaged Campaigns
* United Activists for Animal Rights
* United Poultry Concerns
* UPF-Centre for Animal Ethics
* Viva!
* Voice for Animals Humane Society

|

Historical|

* Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society
* Canadian Anti-Vivisection Society
* Humanitarian League (1891–1919)
* Oxford Group

Parties|

* Animal Justice Party (Australia)
* Animal Politics EU (Europe)
* Animal Protection Party of Canada (Canada)
* Animal Justice Party of Finland (Finland)
* Animals' Party (Sweden)
* Animalist Movement (Italy)
* Animalist Party with the Environment (Spain)
* DierAnimal (Belgium)
* Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Germany)
* Italian Animalist Party (Italy)
* Party for the Animals (Netherlands)
* People Animals Nature (Portugal)
* V-Partei³ (Germany)

Activism|

* Animal Rights National Conference

Media (books, films, periodicals, albums)

| Books|

* On Abstinence from Eating Animals (3rd century)
* Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824)
* The Rights of Animals (1838)
* The Ethics of Diet (1883)
* Animals' Rights (1892)
* Evolutional Ethics and Animal Psychology (1897)
* Better-World Philosophy (1899)
* The Universal Kinship (1906)
* The New Ethics (1907)
* Animals, Men and Morals (1971)
* Animal Liberation (1975)
* The Case for Animal Rights (1983)
* Morals, Reason, and Animals (1987)
* Zoos and Animal Rights (1993)
* Animals, Property, and the Law (1995)
* The Lives of Animals (1999)
* Eternal Treblinka (2001)
* Do Animals Have Rights? (2005)
* Striking at the Roots (2008)
* An American Trilogy (2009)
* An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory (2010)
* Animal Rights Without Liberation (2012)
* Political Animals and Animal Politics (2014)
* Animal (De)liberation (2016)
* Sentientist Politics (2018)
* Wild Animal Ethics (2020)
* Animal Ethics in the Wild (2022)
* Making a Stand for Animals (2022)

|

Films|

* The Animals Film (1981)
* A Cow at My Table (1998)
* Shores of Silence (2000)
* The Witness (2000)
* Meet Your Meat (2002)
* Legally Blonde 2 (2003)
* The Meatrix (2003)
* Peaceable Kingdom (2004)
* Earthlings (2005)
* Behind the Mask (2006)
* Your Mommy Kills Animals (2007)
* The Cove (2009)
* Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home (2009)
* Forks Over Knives (2011)
* Vegucated (2011)
* An Apology to Elephants (2013)
* Speciesism: The Movie (2013)
* The Ghosts in Our Machine (2013)
* Unlocking the Cage (2016)
* Dominion (2018)
* Seaspiracy (2021)

Periodicals|

| Journals|

* Animal Sentience
* Between the Species
* Cahiers antispécistes
* Etica & Animali
* Journal of Animal Ethics
* Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism
* The Animals' Defender

|

Magazines|

* Arkangel
* Bite Back
* Muutoksen kevät
* No Compromise
* Satya

Albums|

* Animal Liberation (1987)
* Tame Yourself (1991)
* Manifesto (2008)
* Salvation of Innocents (2014)
* Onward to Freedom (2014)

Fairs and exhibitions|

* Holocaust on your Plate (2003)

* Category ( 139 )

* v
* t
* e

Wild animal suffering

Concepts|

* Animal ethics
* Ecology of fear
* Predation problem
* Relationship between animal ethics and environmental ethics
* Speciesism
* Welfare biology
* Wild animal welfare

Interventions|

* Contraception
* Rehabilitation
* Vaccination

Media|

* Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824)
* The Universal Kinship (1906)
* Morals, Reason, and Animals (1987)
* Nature Red in Tooth and Claw (2008)
* "The Meat Eaters" (2010)
* Sentientist Politics (2019)
* Wild Animal Ethics (2020)
* Animal Ethics in the Wild (2022)

Organizations|

* Animal Ethics
* Wild Animal Initiative
* Wildlife Disaster Network

Writers|

| Contemporary|

* Elisa Aaltola
* Jacy Reese Anthis
* Yves Bonnardel
* J. Baird Callicott
* Richard Dawkins
* Sue Donaldson
* Catia Faria
* Oscar Horta
* Kyle Johannsen
* Jeff McMahan
* Will Kymlicka
* Tobias Leenaert
* Thomas Lepeltier
* Ole Martin Moen
* Arne Næss
* Yew-Kwang Ng
* David Olivier
* William MacAskill
* Martha Nussbaum
* Clare Palmer
* David Pearce
* Holmes Rolston III
* Stephen R. L. Clark
* Steven Nadler
* Steve F. Sapontzis
* Jeff Sebo
* Peter Singer
* Peter Vallentyne

|

Historical|

* Charles Darwin
* Erasmus Darwin
* Lewis Gompertz
* William Paley
* J. Howard Moore
* Tom Regan
* Alexander Skutch

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