Building a sustainable future for animal agriculture: an environmental virtue ethic of care approach within the philosophy of technology

摘要

Our present philosophy of technology, which fails to consider the central ethical question, 'How should we live?' and which promotes an insular human-centricism, is inimical to sustainability, understood in terms of long-term health, security and vitality of economic, environmental and social systems. Within this paradigm, not only are farmed animals conceived as 'absent referents' and commodities but our ability to care for and respect these animals and the land as part of our broader community is impaired significantly. I begin by arguing that an ethically robust philosophy of technology must include both an account of how we ought to interact with agriculture and food, and an account of the character dispositions we ought to have regarding the land, farmed animals and those in the food system. I contend that the question related to the proper relationship between the two can be found by discovering the appropriate role of virtue in food production and consumption. I argue that we should accord an environmental virtue ethic of care (EVEC) a central place within a reformed philosophy of technology. Next, I discuss the merits of EVEC as a foundation for our philosophy of technology vis a vis animal agriculture. EVEC enjoins us to value the agricultural spaces and processes and its constituents for their own sake and for the sake of becoming better persons. I end by outlining particular virtues associated with the ethic of care and consider some likely practical implications as it relates to farming animals.