Home / Political objections / Deontology and Kantianism
"Only rational beings are ends in themselves; toward animals we have, at most, indirect duties."
Deontology and Kantianism: the principle
Treat beings who have value of their own as ends, and never merely as means.
Why excluding animals contradicts the principle
- Kant said cruelty to animals is wrong because it hardens human character. It would follow that torturing an animal in secret, with no effect on anyone, would not be wrong, a conclusion almost no one accepts (A20).
- Present-day interpreters of the Kantian tradition itself, such as Christine Korsgaard, argue that sentient animals are ends in themselves, because they have a good of their own.
- Tom Regan, within a rights theory, showed that being the "subject of a life" is enough to have inherent value.
The strongest counter-reply
The most serious version says dignity comes from moral autonomy, which animals lack.
See also
A20 Humans have intrinsic value; animals have instrumental value.A1 Animals aren't rational.A11 It's normal for humans to be rational.