Tutorial # 6. Deontologism at Work. Kant on Animals. Discussion Questions

After having read "Fellow Creatures: Kantian Ethics and Our Duties to Animals" by Christine M. Korsgaard, think about the following questions.

• What are the criteria for moral standing according to Kant?
• Do non-human animals have moral standing (moral importance)?
• If animals are not rational nor autonomous, is it okay to treat them in any way we like?
• We kill, eat, hunt, experiment on, "enslave" a wide range of animals. Humans have destroyed large parts of the natural environment depriving animals of a place in which to live. Does any of this matter morally? Why?
  
• Does Kant think that non-human animals have rights? Does he think that we have duties to them?
• Does deontologism really implicate that animals have only instrumental value? Do you agree with Korsgaard's "reading" of deontology?
• Are animals means to men’s ends?
• Is there anything intrinsically wrong in torturing animals?
• Is it a moral duty to be vegetarians?
• Is it immoral to use animals for scientific experiments?
• Do non-human animals have desires and beliefs that can be satisfied/frustrated and true/false? Why is it morally important to answer that question?