The morality and ethics of hunting : towards common ground

[摘要] The hunters and anti-hunting have been arguing for years over whether or not trophy huntingshould be allowed. While attempts have been made to resolve the issue, no widelyacceptable solution has yet been found. Hunters have put forward various argumentsincluding: religion, instinct, sustainable utilization, money, excessive populations and thewildlife management support argument. These have usually been criticized for beingmanagement orientate and not addressing the focal question of the anti-hunters: 'What givesman the right to hunt'. Anti-hunters have countered these arguments and presented newones. These include: cruelty, animal rights, animal liberation, special and rare species as wellas religion and wildlife management support arguments. The anti-hunters have usedsympathy and emotion to gain support for their movement while making effective use of themedia. Hunters on the other hand have been slow to make use of this communication tool.In presenting their arguments, a fundamental difference has been identified between the useof the various terms. The seemingly simple word 'ethics' has been used by the hunters tomean a code of conduct while the anti-hunters have used this word in indicate the morality ofman's actions. The inherent value of an animal has also been debated. Does an animalhave value in and of itself or does it only have value in that it is useful to man? Furthermore,is it the individual animal, the species or the population which has value? The value of wildlifeas a natural resource and the right to use this resource is also discussed. Do developedcountries have the right to determine the use that a developing country may make of itsresources? Leopold's land ethics is discussed an it is shown how hunting preserves theintegrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. In order to address the issues raised bythe debate, it is necessary for the hunters and the anti-hunters to be willing to work towardscommon goals. It is unlikely that either side would ever be willing to give up their position butif they can agree to work towards some common goals, the long on-going debate would haveachieved something. For this reason, four solution to this debate are looked at and analyzed.Their weakness and failures are discussed as well as their strong points. Taylor's PriorityPrinciples are then analyzed to identify the first steps that need to be taken in draWing upguidelines for hunting. While this assignment does not attempt to identify these guidelines itdoes point out the need to have such guidelines and establishes that there can be commonground. Also, that it is desirable to achieve this aim. The assignment highlights the need forgroups to work towards common goals without having to give up their beliefs and standpoints.There will be time later to determine whether or not man should hunt. In the meantime, manshould be focussing on hunting ethically - both in the moral sense and within the frameworkof a good code of conduct.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University