The Political Turn of the Animal Ethical Discourse - highlighting the virtue ethical approach

Abstract

A growing body of work within the animal ethical discourse has been identified as taking a ‘Political Turn’. This turn is primarily characterised by efforts to propose pragmatic approaches to normative reflections about our human-nonhuman-animal-relationships in society, as well as by arguments to the effect that the correct treatment of nonhuman animals within society is a matter of justice. However, these efforts—that predominantly focus on moral rights—have yet to assert legal animal rights that protect against institutionalised animal oppression and effectuate the radical change at the political level they propose. In this thesis, I examine the potential of a virtue ethical approach. In particular, I investigate whether a virtue ethical approach could help the cause within the political turn. I discuss various virtue ethicists’ works and consider how their proposed moral virtues can indeed offer practical guidance in complex situations, do not succumb to anthropocentrism while doing so when focusing on other-regarding virtues, and support the need for both individual and institutional change by appealing to collective virtues. Moreover, I propose that we ought to recognise animal advocacy as a fully-fledged social justice movement, before the political turn can be taken successfully. I argue that virtue ethics is able to support this endeavour by emphasising the intersectionality between animal advocacy and other social movements. By its emphasis on the combined moral agents’ sustained commitment to act in accordance with moral virtue, and the cultivation of said virtues through habituation, it will help the agent to achieve their state of flourishing. I conclude, that including the virtue ethical approach within the political turn seems promising for supporting its success, not in spite of lacking a ‘language of rights’, but precisely because of its rich and diverse ‘language of virtues’. Accordingly, this perspective should therefore be explored further.