Animal Suffering

Animal Suffering: Philosophy and Culture explores how animal suffering is made meaningful within Western ramifications. It is often argued that today's culture is ambivalent in its attitudes toward non-human animals: on the one hand, many speak of the importance of 'animal welfare', and on the other, billions of animals each year are treated as little more than production units. The book gains its impetus from here, as it seeks to map out both the facts and norms related to animal suffering. It investigates themes such as animal welfare and suffering in practice, skepticism concerning the human ability to understand non-human suffering, cultural and philosophical roots of compassion, and contemporary approaches to animal ethics. At its center is the pivotal question: What is the moral significance of animal suffering? The key approach brought forward is 'intersubjectivity', via which the suffering of other animals can be understood in a fresh light.

ELISA AALTOLA is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Eastern Finland. She has been researching the theoretical ramifications behind and practical implications of the moral status of non-human animals for a number of years, and has previously published two Finnish books on animal ethics.