Abstract
In this paper I argue that the framework of moral extensionism relies on human exceptionalism and human centeredness. I discuss the dangers of human exceptionalism and human centeredness using the work of ecofeminist philosophers Val Plumwood, Carol Adams, Lori Gruen, A. Breeze Harper, and Lisa Kemmerer. These ecofeminists each articulate alternative approaches to human relations with other animal beings. There are tensions among these alternatives, though, and I use a pragmatist perspective to interrogate their different positions on how other animal beings should or should not figure into the diets of human beings. I will argue that we need a contextual approach of ethical pluralism that is rooted in a broadened understanding of the human continuity with the rest of life and deeper acknowledgment of human dependency (and interdependency) with the rest of nature.
Recommended Citation
McKenna, Erin
(2023)
"The Question of Veganism, the Dangers of Moral Extensionism, and a Pragmatist Ecofeminist Alternative,"
Between the Species:
Vol. 26:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bts/vol26/iss1/2