Quote:
Originally Posted by duga
Vegangelica, do you consider it morally wrong to kill animals only when the being doing the killing is intelligent enough to make a moral choice? How do you feel about carnivorous animals?
Again...apologies if this or something like it has been asked before.
|
You are correct...I only feel one animal killing another is morally wrong when I consider the one doing the action to be a "moral agent," capable of knowing or understanding that other beings have sensations, and capable of understanding the concepts of right and wrong.
So, for example, if a young human child commits a crime I do not hold her as morally responsible as when an adult human commits that same crime.
When a lion kills a gazelle, I *wish* that the lion didn't *have* to kill the gazelle to survive. I usually describe this predator/prey situation as "good for the lion and horrible for the gazelle." But I don't think the lion is acting immorally, because I don't think the lion's brain structure allows it to have a very strong concept of moral behavior as it pertains to prey animals.