2020/09/15 by Ben Bramble · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Environmental Science · #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Environmental Philosophy and Ethics
paper · doi:10.1111/japp.12461
openalex publication_date 2020/09/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract Animals suffer harms not only in human captivity but in the wild as well. Some of these latter harms are due to humans, but many of them are not. Consider, for example, the harms of predation, i.e. of being hunted, killed, and eaten by other animals. Should we intervene in nature to prevent these harms? In this article, I consider two possible ways in which we might do so: (1) by herbivorising predators (i.e. genetically modify them so that their offspring gradually evolve into herbivores) and (2) by painlessly killing predators. I argue that, among these options, painlessly killing predators would be preferable to herbivorising them. I then argue that painlessly killing predators, despite its costs to predators, might under certain circumstances be justifiable.