Thanks for the great post, it was a very enjoyable read.
I’m curious if there are any justification to using qualities such as intelligence, creativity and sociability to determine moral status? They seem pretty arbitrary to me. We might as well consider fluffyness, body weight and visual resolution.
I would think if there is at all something like hierarchical moral status, it would be determined by instrumental qualities such as resource consumption (negative) and altruism (positive)
Thanks for your comment. I’ve written a bit about the potential relevance of intelligence and emotional complexity to capacity for welfare here. But I share your skepticism about their relevance to moral status. I’m reminded of this comic:
Thanks for the great post, it was a very enjoyable read.
I’m curious if there are any justification to using qualities such as intelligence, creativity and sociability to determine moral status? They seem pretty arbitrary to me. We might as well consider fluffyness, body weight and visual resolution.
I would think if there is at all something like hierarchical moral status, it would be determined by instrumental qualities such as resource consumption (negative) and altruism (positive)
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your comment. I’ve written a bit about the potential relevance of intelligence and emotional complexity to capacity for welfare here. But I share your skepticism about their relevance to moral status. I’m reminded of this comic: