Contractualism and the Moral Status of Animals

Contractarianism Gone Wild: Carruthers and the Moral Status of Animals

In bis recent contribution to the literature on the moral status of animals, Peter Carruthers argues that "some version of contractualism provides us with the most acceptable framework for moral theory," and be defends two central claims about sucb a theory: that it provides "a theoretical framework that accords full moral standing to all human beings, while non-arbitrarily withholding such sta...

Commentary: Narrow Bridge Games and their Rescue of Rational Constraints in Moral Contractualism

Contractualism and Justification

T. M. Scanlon I first began thinking of contractualism as a moral theory 38 years ago, in May of 1979. The idea was not entirely original. I was of course familiar with Rawls’ theory of justice, and influenced by it. A more direct source for the idea of justifiability to others as the basis of morality lay in remarks of Tom Nagel’s in Moral Questions. Rawls and Nagel had, perhaps, the wisdom no...

Moral Vegetarianism from a Very Broad Basis

Th is paper defends a qualifi ed version of moral vegetarianism. It defends a weak thesis and, more tentatively, a strong thesis, both from a very broad basis that assumes neither that animals have rights nor that they are entitled to equal consideration. Th e essay’s only assumption about moral status, an assumption defended in the analysis of the wrongness of cruelty to animals, is that senti...

Personhood and Moral Status of The Embryo: It’s Effect on Validity of Surrogacy Contract Revocation according to Shia Jurisprudence Perspective

Objective One of the most controversial issues related to human embryo is to determine the moment when the embryo is considered as a human being and acquires a moral status. Although personhood and moral status are frequently touched upon in medical ethics, they are considered interdisciplinary as concepts shaping the debate in Medical Law (Fiqh) since their consequences are influential in the ...