The Case Against Kant’s ‘Indirect Duty’ Approach

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter presents a critical overview of the debate about Kant’s ‘indirect duty’ approach to animal ethics. According to Kant’s view, we have no duties ‘towards’ animals, but only ‘regarding’ them. Specifically, we have a duty to cultivate our capacity for sympathy and gratitude in our interactions with animals. Philosophers have advanced two main lines of objection against this view: First, it contains a contradiction, secondly, it is too weak in its demands. The chapter reconstructs the debate and argues that Kantian defences against these objections have not been sufficient. It adds the novel argument that Kant’s view also fails to be helpful in the way Kantian philosophy is supposed to be, since it undermines trust in ordinary moral feelings rather than reinvigorating it.