singer, regan, pollan

moral standing

if an entities interests or well-being matter morally for its own sake

moral agent

capable of understanding moral considerations and being held responsible for their actions

moral patient

can be affected by morally significant actions but does not necessarily have the capacity to make moral judgments

sentience

the capacity for subjective experience, particularly the ability to experience pleasure and suffering

animal welfare

focuses on improving animals lives and reducing suffering

animal rights

focuses on moral protections owed to animals as individuals

utilitarianism

the morality of an action depends on its consequences for those affected - aim is to produce the best overall balance of benefits over harms

equal consideration

like interest receive like moral weight

descriptive claim

individuals possess different abilities

normative claim

differences in abilites do not automatically justify unequal consideration of their comparable interests

speciesism

prejudice or unjustified favoritism toward members of one’s own species

argument from marginal cases

the claim that humans deserve moral consideration because they possess capacities such as advanced reasoning, language or moral agency

sanctity of human life princple

idea that all and only human life is inviolable

indirect duty view

humans do not owe duties directly to animals, they arise from duties to other humans

contractarianism

morality consists of rules established through an agreement or social contract

cruelty-kindness theory

we have duties to act kindly and avoid cruelty towards animals

aggregative theory

adding together the benefit and harms experiences by different individuals to determine which action produces the best overall outcome

cup analogy

comparing individuals to cups and their experiences to the liquids inside them

inherent value

moral worth does not depend on the usefullness to others or the benefits they produce

subject-of-a-life

conscious individual whose eexperiences and welfare matter to that individual

cognitive dissonance

psyhcological discomfort arising from conflict between onés beleifs, value and behaviour