动物权利问题的伦理之维及其对疫情防控的启示

The Environmental Ethics Dimension of the Animal Rights Debate and Its Enlightenment to Epidemic Prevention and Control

在西方环境伦理史上,“动物权利”的话语一直是一个历久弥新的话题,人类中心主义和非人类中心主义两大派别都对动物权利进行过深入探讨。传统人类中心主义认为动物没有道德权利;开明人类中心主义认为动物是否拥有道德权利并不能作为人类是否对动物负责的充分理由,人对动物的道德义务是对人类行善的练习;非人类中心主义认为人与动物的道德权利不过是程度之差,而没有本质之别。当前,在人类生存和发展遭遇疫情肆虐的情况下,对动物权利问题的伦理探讨,既有助于人类正视和客观应对灾疫中的动物伦理问题,从而转变人的价值观念,警示人类对自然界保持敬畏;又有助于人类对因滥食“野味”引发的问题进行伦理反思,培养健康的生活方式,为有效防控新冠肺炎疫情及其传播提供必要的伦理支持。

In the history of western environmental ethics,the discourse of“animal rights”has always been a topic that has lasted forever,both anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism have conducted in-depth discussions on animal rights.Traditional anthropocentrism believes that animals have no moral rights;enlightened anthropocentrism considers that whether animals have moral rights is not a sufficient reason for whether humans are responsible for animals,man’s moral obligation to animals is an exercise in doing good to humans;non-anthropocentrism deems that the moral rights of humans and animals are only the difference in degree,and there is no essential difference.Currently,under the situation that human survival and development are raging by the epidemic,discussing the issue of animal rights,which not only helps human beings face up to and objectively respond to the ethical issues of animals in the epidemic,thereby changing people’s values,warn human beings to respect the natural world,but also helps human beings conduct ethical reflections on the food ethics problems caused by the overeating of“exotic animals”,promote a healthier lifestyle,provide necessary ethical support for the effective prevention and control of the COVID-19 and its spread.