Abstract
My primary concern will be to cast light upon the relation between animal guardians (‘pet owners’) and pets as a deep relation. I will proceed with a degree of indirectness by explaining why animal guardians can have an epistemically-privileged position when it comes to end-of-life decisions concerning pets. My contention is that they are best placed to grasp the relevant narrative considerations upon which end-of-life deliberation in marginal cases ought to depend. Such narrative-appreciation is built into the practice of treating animals as pets. By virtue of having such a narrative appreciation, animal guardians can be best placed to grasp the life-role of pain and suffering.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 402-413 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Philosophy |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2009 |
Keywords
- animals
- pets
- companion animals
- ethics