Animal welfare science and moral theory: social relational framework of empathetic accountability and welfare-aligned sentience

• Main Author: Leo, Celine
• Other Authors: Christina Chuang
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Humanities::Philosophy
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165467
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Animal cruelty in agricultural and commercial industries has steadily continued, despite the development of laws that recognise their capacity for such suffering and in extension, other various components of sentience. Animal sentience generally refers to animals’ capacity for consciousness and cognition. The non-consensus of its definition across both philosophers and scientists has brought about a need for further investigation, both in research and much more in ethical frameworks that argue for animal welfare. Statistical evidence of sentience alone is not morally compelling enough for agents, so socially conditioned, whereas abstract moral reasoning highlights further epistemic challenges in implementing standards of human-animal interactions into legislation. Therefore, this thesis seeks to make a shift towards alternative care ethics, positing a social relational animal welfare framework based on a welfare-aligned definition of animal sentience.