论宰食动物的道德限度

On Moral Limits of Killing Animals for Food

人们围绕动物权利的问题展开了激烈的论争。人类中心主义、契约论否认动物权利;而动物福利派与动物权利派都承认应该给动物权利,虽然两者对动物权利的范围持不同观点。现在,动物的法律权利已在很多国家和地区的立法中得到全面保护,动物拥有道德权利的观点亦为多数人所接受。动物享有法律权利与道德权利,同样作为法律与道德主体的人则负有不侵害动物权利的义务,这些义务中最基本的内容则是"不伤害"。即使在特殊情况下某些伤害动物的行为不可避免,伤害动物也只能是仅具备较弱合理性的被允许的行为而非人对动物享有的道德权利。肉体或精神的折磨、生命或自由的剥夺都会对动物造成伤害,虐待、圈禁与宰杀则是人伤害动物常见的行为方式。在不伤害原则之下,人们还能否宰食动物?激进环境主义者认为,宰食动物的道德限度首先要求放弃肉食、奉行素食主义。温和环境主义者认为,激进主义者的主张是一种天真的理想,无法被人所认同,也无法为人所实践,改变人们的消费方式必须尊重人类进化史,必须尊重人类发展规律,必须循序渐进。在改变人们的消费方式,使之符合动物保护需要的问题上,既被认同又能实践的现实方案是:不以残暴方式饲养、宰食动物,包括不宰食法律禁止宰食的动物、不虐杀动物、普遍实行人道屠宰方式、对工厂化养殖做出严格限制。

There are intense disputations around the animal rights.Anthropocentrism and Contractarianism deny animal rights,while animal welfare advocates and animal rights protectors,different in the views on the range of animal rights,hold that animal have rights.At present,animal legal rights have been well-protected in many countries and regions and the opinion that animals should have rights has been widely accepted.Animals have legal rights and moral rights.As the subject of law and morality,people have the obligation not to infringe animal rights,the basic content of which is“doing no harm to animals”.Even though some behaviors of hurting animals are unavoidable in some circumstances,the hurt can only be permitted with weak rationality rather than be regarded as humans moral rights.Physical or mental torture,life or freedom deprivation cause harm to animals;abuse,captivity and slaughter are all common ways of hurting animals.Under the no?harm principle,can people kill animals for food-Radical environmentalists believe that the first moral limit is to ask people to abandon eating meat and pursue vegetarianism.Gentle environmentalists believe that the naive idea of radicalism cannot be recognized or practicedby people.To change human's consumption needs to respect the history and law of human evolution anddevelopment.It should be a gradual process.The operational scheme to change humans consumption,consistent with the needs of animal protection meanwhile,is not to feed and kill animals for food in a brutal manner,including not to eat animals protected by laws,nor kill animals cruelly but implement humane slaughter,and make strict restrictions on factory farming.