Moral Recognition and the Limits of Impartialist Ethics

‘Moral status’ is simply a convenient label for ‘is owed moral consideration of a kind’. This chapter argues that we should abandon it and instead focus on the question of what kinds of dispositional capabilities, species memberships, relationships etc., constitute ethically defensible criteria that justifiably trigger particular kinds of moral obligations. Chimeras, human brain organoids, and artificial intelligence do not pose new challenges. Existing conceptual frameworks, and the criteria for moral consideration that they trigger (species membership, sentientism, personhood) are still defensible and applicable. The challenge at hand is arguably an empirical challenge that philosophers and ethicists qua philosophers and ethicists are ill equipped to handle. The challenge that needs addressing is essentially whether a self-learning AI machine, that responds exactly in the same way to a particular event as a person or sentient being would, should be treated as if it was such a person or sentient being, despite doubts about its de facto lack of dispositional capabilities that would normally give rise to such responses.

Microbiologic assessment of accelerated solid-state fermentation of agricultural organic wastes

Livestock and poultry wastes, when effectively managed, become feedstock for organic fertiliser production. Researchers from the All-Russian Research Institute of Reclaimed Lands, the branch of Federal Research Center “V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute”, proposed an accelerated regimen of cattle manure solid-phase fermentation with peat: 48 h at 37 °C, then 48 h at 60 °C and 24 h at 37 °C, terminating with nat-ural cooling of the fermented mass. A distinctive feature of the proposed accelerated fermentation is maintenance of set-point temperatures. The aim of the work is to perform a microbiological evaluation of the process of accelerated solid-phase fermentation. An experiment was carried out in a 1.75 dm3 laboratory fermenter. During the fermentation, we studied the number of microorganisms, which use organic and mineral nitrogen forms, using the limiting dilution method, as well as the species membership by mass spectrometry. The experimental findings showed that the temperature regime of the main fermentation steps yielded the maximum number of mesophilic and thermophilic nitrogen-transforming microorganisms. Their active growth caused the intensive transformation of the fermented mixture, as evidenced by mesophilic and thermophilic mineralisation coefficients. At the end of the process, the linear mineralisation coefficients were used to assess the completion of the fermentation product transformation and stabilisation. The fermentation product comprised a high number of nitrogen-transforming microorganisms (on average, 3.5±0.3•108 COE/g on a dry weight basis). The determination of the microbiota species membership in the fermented mass and the final product confirmed that the process temperature regime ensured the elimination of the sanitary-indicatory microorganisms present in the original mixture (E. coli, Citrobacter, Proteus). In addition, during pasteurisation, this regime led to the active development of non-pathogenic Bacillus bacteria (B. megaterium, B. subtilis, B. licheniformic, B. pumilus and B. altitudinis). The fermentation product is recommended for use as an environmentally safe organic fertiliser based on the microbiological evaluation.

Illustrated Morphological Keys for Fleas (Siphonaptera) in Madagascar

Madagascar has an important diversity of fleas (Siphonaptera), which almost species do not exist elsewhere. Scientists have provided huge efforts to improve knowledge on Malagasy fleas since the middle of 1900s particularly by investigating topics such as taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, and flea vector role. Since then, new species discovery has increased and currently, 48 species are recorded which the majority is endemic. Therefore, it becomes necessary to have updated keys to identify species membership. This paper presents morphological-based keys to identify at genus and species levels adult fleas reported as occurring in Madagascar. Illustrations are proposed to make easier the observation of morphological criteria, which may be tricky for sibling species.

Speciesism and Speciescentrism

The term ‘speciesism’ was once coined to name discrimination against nonhuman animals (Ryder 1975) as well as the bias that such discrimination expresses (Singer 2009 [1975]). It has sparked a debate on criteria for being morally considerable and the relative significance of human and nonhuman animals’ interests. Many defenses of the preferential consideration of humans have come with a denial of the normative meaning of the term ‘speciesism’ itself (e.g., Cohen 1986, Kagan 2016). In fact, defenders of the moral relevance of species membership and their critics alike have often used ‘speciesism’ as a merely descriptive technical term for classifying positions in normative ethics. This paper argues that this terminological choice severely impoverishes our ethical vocabulary and moral conceptual scheme. It obscures the considerable common ground among theorists with differing views on the relevance of various properties for moral consideration. It is often overlooked that even most defenders of the preferential treatment of one’s fellow species members have good reason to hold on to the normative notion that ‘speciesism’ was originally meant to be. Two distinct types of concepts are involved when differential treatment along species lines is addressed in a normative and a descriptive way, respectively. The term ‘speciesism’ should be reserved for the normative concept and kept apart from the descriptive term ‘speciescentrism.’ Attempts to redefine speciesism as something that is not wrong by definition are shown to be epistemically and morally harmful for the same reasons attempts to redefine racism and sexism in this way are.

Justified Species Partiality

A core question in practical ethics is ‘which entities do we need to consider in our decision-making?’ In this chapter we evaluate the justifications and motivations for defending species-membership views of human moral status. These are views on which human beings have a distinctive type of moral status grounded in their being human or possessing some property that almost perfectly correlates with being human. Many ethicists endorse species-membership views on moral status because they believe that moral status differences are needed to support widely held and purportedly well-justified beliefs about species differentiation in consideration and treatment. We argue against the need to adopt a species-membership or human-privilege view on moral status in order to justify species partiality in consideration and treatment. The sort of partiality with respect to consideration and treatment that motivates species-membership views is largely consistent with more egalitarian views about moral status, according to which an entity’s moral status depends on its own features, not the biological group to which it belongs. Given the traditional objections to species-membership views, to the extent that justified species partiality is consistent with alternative views of moral status, there is reason to reject the moral status significance of being human.

Gorilla habituation and the role of animal agency in conservation and tourism development at Bwindi, South Western Uganda

Discussions of gorilla habituation often emphasise human control of gorillas, whereby gorillas are usually singularly defined by their species membership. This perspective leaves little room for imagining the role of gorillas in habituation, conservation and tourism development processes. In this paper, we use insights from Actor Network Theory and more-than-human geography to explore and reconstruct the practice of gorilla habituation in order to understand gorillas as actors in habituation, conservation and tourism development at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (hereafter Bwindi), Uganda. To do so, we use the concept of relational animal agency to trace the various ways in which gorillas interact with each other, various groups of people, and their environment. Ethnographic observations, unstructured interviews and document study indicate that gorillas are ‘multiple’ and thus need to be understood beyond their species membership alone. They are involved in intricate relations with each other, with other non-human and human subjects, and their shared environment. Furthermore, gorillas are not completely and passively controlled by humans through habituation: we argue that habituation as a relational process is more complex. Gorillas also habituate other gorillas and arguably can be seen to habituate humans as well. As a result, gorillas co-produce multiple versions of the Bwindi landscape, of conservation, tourism and development practices, as well as multiple ways of being gorillas. Based on these insights, we argue that instead of focusing on control, the dynamics between gorillas and their landscapes could be harnessed to explore a dynamic range of possibilities for living together with gorillas, while continuously adapting to issues that will arise in places such as Bwindi.

MELANIN IN THE PINEAL GLANDS OF CANIDAE

Цель - проанализировать наличие меланина и оценить частоту встречаемости пигментированных шишковидных желёз (ШЖ) у псовых разных возрастных групп. Материал и методы. Объекты исследования - енотовидная собака (Nyctereutes procyonoides Grey), лисица (Vulpes vulpes L.) и песец (V. Lagopus L.). У неполовозрелых, или ювенильных (6-8 мес), и половозрелых (1,5-3,5 лет) самок животных каждого вида визуально оценивали наличие пигментации ШЖ и подсчитывали доли (%) пигментированных и непигментированных желёз. Число неполовозрелых и взрослых животных каждого вида было следующим: енотовидной собаки (n=4, n=15), лисицы (n=15, n=28) и песца (n=14, n=14 соответственно). Морфологические особенности ШЖ изучали гистологическими методами исследования, срезы окрашивали гематоксилином - эозином, а также по Массону-Фонтана. Результаты. В ШЖ исследованных видов обнаружены скопления пигмента меланина как на периферии железы, так и возле кровеносных сосудов. Визуально зафиксирована большая вариабельность пигментации желёз: от непигментированных до интенсивно пигментированных. На частоту встречаемости пигментированных желёз оказывали влияние возраст и видовая принадлежность. У енотовидных собак пигментированные эпифизы наблюдались только у неполовозрелых особей (25 %), у лисиц - только у взрослых (21,4 %). У песцов они были характерны для обеих возрастных групп, но с возрастом их доля снижалась (с 21,4 до 7,1 %). Выводы. Обнаружена широкая вариабельность степени пигментации ШЖ у псовых. Частота встречаемости пигментированных ШЖ характеризуется видоспецифичностью и зависит от возраста животных. Objective - to study the presence of melanin in the pineal gland (PG) and to assess the frequency of the pigmented glands occurrence in Canidae of different age groups. Material and methods. The objects of the research were raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides Grey), fox (Vulpes vulpes L.) and Arctic fox (V. lagopus L.). In immature (6-8 months) and adult (1,5-3,5 years) females of each species, the presence of the PG pigmentation was visually assessed and the proportion (%) of the pigmented and non-pigmented PG was calculated. The number of immature and adult animals was as follows: raccoon dog - n=4, n=15, fox - n=15, n=28, Arctic fox - n=14, n=14, accordingly. PG morphology was studied by histological methods; the sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and according to Masson-Fontana technique. Results. Clusters of melanin in the PG of studied species were located both on the periphery of the gland and near the blood vessels. The great variability of the PG pigmentation was detected. The age and the species membership affected the frequency of pigmented PGs findings. In raccoon dogs pigmented PGs were observed in immature individuals only (25 %), in foxes - in adults only (21,4 %). In blue foxes pigmented PGs were characteristic of both age groups, but with age their proportions decreased (from 21,4 to 7,1 %). Conclusions. A great variability in the degree of PG pigmentation was demonstrated. The frequency of the pigmented glands occurrence in Canidae is species-specific and depends on the age of the animals.

Utilitarianism for animals, Kantianism for people? Harming animals and humans for the greater good

Most people hold that it is wrong to sacrifice some humans to save a greater number of humans. Do people also think that it is wrong to sacrifice some animals to save a greater number of animals, or do they answer such questions about harm to animals by engaging in a utilitarian cost-benefit calculation? Across 10 studies (N = 4,662), using hypothetical and real-life sacrificial moral dilemmas, we found that participants considered it more permissible to harm a few animals to save a greater number of animals than to harm a few humans to save a greater number of humans. This was explained by a reduced general aversion to harm animals compared to humans, which was partly driven by participants perceiving animals to suffer less and to have lower cognitive capacity than humans. However, the effect persisted even in cases where animals were described as having greater suffering capacity and greater cognitive capacity than some humans, and even when participants felt more socially connected to animals than to humans. The reduced aversion to harming animals was thus also partly due to speciesism—the tendency to ascribe lower moral value to animals due to their species-membership alone. In sum, our studies show that deontological constraints against instrumental harm are not absolute but get weaker the less people morally value the respective entity. These constraints are strongest for humans, followed by dogs, chimpanzees, pigs, and finally inanimate objects.

Liking but Devaluing Animals: Emotional and Deliberative Paths to Speciesism

We explore whether priming emotion versus deliberation affects speciesism—the tendency to prioritize certain individuals over others on the basis of their species membership (three main and two supplementary studies, four preregistered; N = 3,288). We find that the tendency to prioritize humans over animals (anthropocentric speciesism) decreases when participants were asked to think emotionally compared to deliberatively. In contrast, the tendency to prioritize dogs over other animals (pet speciesism) increases when participants were asked to think emotionally compared to deliberatively. We hypothesize that, emotionally, people like animals in general and dogs in particular; however, deliberatively, people attribute higher moral status to humans than animals and roughly equal status to dogs, chimpanzees, elephants, and pigs. In support of this explanation, participants tended to discriminate between animals based on likability when thinking emotionally and based on moral status when thinking deliberatively. These findings shed light on the psychological underpinnings of speciesism.