Lewis F. Petrinovich - Darwinian dominion: animal welfare and human interests

This book is the third in a trilogy that applies evolutionary principles to understand the nature of human morality. The first two books, Human evolution, reproduction, and morality (1995), and Living and dying well (1996), considered the permissible use of humans by humans. Basic philosophical issues were discussed and an evolutionary approach was developed and applied to problems regarding human existence, including conception, birth, living a satisfactory life, and dying.

This book completes this phase of the inquiry by asking questions regarding the permissible use of animals by humans. Philosophical positions concerning animal welfare, rights, and liberation are discussed within a utilitarian framework that stresses the importance of a cost-benefit analysis of values. Attention is paid to the philosophy of science, especially the nature of explanation, the relationship of evidence to theory, and ideas regarding how to evaluate scientific change and progress. Special attention is devoted to the biological conception of species, because it looms large in philosophical discussions regarding the use of animals in research and to consume. The value and necessity of animal research to advance biological and medical science, and to the development of applications of those advances is a dominant concern.

A word of explanation is in order regarding the title, Darwinian dominion. The first book had a rather ordinary descriptive title-Humanevolution, reproduction, and morality-while the second was a bit better in terms of moving beyond mere description-Livingand dying well. While musing at my desk one evening about a title for this book, I thought of a favorite poem I had heard read by the author Dylan Thomas (1971, pp. 49-50), "And Death Shall Have No Dominion." I played his