The Moral Status of Animals

[theapportioner]

What about a human infant who behaves without moral consideration? We would be morally offended if an adult threw food at you. Not so with an infant. We wouldn't lock an infant in a cage either. Or conduct fatal experiments on them.

What about someone in a persistent coma, who doesn't possess the ability to perceive pain? We would still consider it morally repugnant to carve things in his or her flesh, or rape them. Or conduct experiments on them.

An adult dog, or an adult chimpanzee, is more intelligent than an infant, and feels pain whereas the person in a coma doesn't.