why do species matter?
TRANSCRIPT
Why Do Species Matter?
Arvin M. MontiverosMAT-SS
By Lilly-
Marlene Russow
Main Argument“We value and protect animals because of their aesthetic value, not because they are members of a given species.”“Our duties towards species arise not out of the interests of the species, but are rooted in the general obligation to preserve things of value.”
“Our obligations to species may in fact be obligations to individuals.”
Supporting Details•Some Test Cases
Case 1. The snail darter
Supporting DetailsCase 2. The Pére David deer
Supporting DetailsCase 3. The red wolf
Supporting DetailsCase 4. The Baltimore oriole and Bullock’s oriole
Bullock’s oriole
Baltimore oriole
Supporting DetailsCase 5. The Appaloosa
Supporting DetailsCase 6. Laboratory rats
Supporting DetailsCase 7. Mosquito
Supporting Details
Case 8. Zebra
• The lesson from this section is that “our concern is with the continued existence of individuals that may or may not have some distinctive characteristics.”
Supporting Details
• Some Traditional Answers to the question:
“Why do species matter?” or “Why do we have at least a prima facie duty not to cause a species to become extinct, and in some cases, a duty to try actively to preserve species?”
Supporting Details
• Some Traditional Answers (three groups of replies)
1. We have duties of “stewardship”.The job of a custodian is to protect that which has some value or worth.
The issue now is whether species have value, and why.
Supporting Details
2. Species have extrinsic value (instrumental value)
Anthropocentric versionoVanishing species are of concern to us because
their difficulties serve as warning that we have polluted or altered the environment in a way that is potentially dangerous or undesirable for us.
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2. Species have extrinsic value (instrumental value)
Ecocentric versionoBy destroying a single species, we upset the
balance of the whole system.oThe value of the species is determined by its
contribution to the whole.
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3. Species have intrinsic or inherent valueIf a species is intrinsically valuable, we should try
to preserve it even when it no longer has a place in the natural ecosystem, or when it could be replaced by another species that would occupy the same niche.
We should not ignore a species just because it serves no useful purpose.
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3. Species have intrinsic or inherent valueHowever, to say that something has an intrinsic
value does not tell us how much value it has.
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Aesthetic ValueThere are some species that are aesthetically
significant.So, those that do not have aesthetic significance
are not worth preserving.
- This application of aesthetic value has been misidentified – “What we value is the
existence of individuals with certain characteristics.”
Supporting Details
Valuing the IndividualThere are very few members of a species
(endangered species) – rarity and unexpectednessA desire that there be future opportunities to see
these things again
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Conclusion
• Individual animals can have aesthetic value: they are valued for their simple beauty, for their awesomeness, for their intriguing adaptation, for their rarity, and for many other reasons.•We have moral obligation to protect things of aesthetic value, and to ensure their continued existence.•We have a duty to protect individual animals and to ensure that there will continue to be animals of this sort.
Thank
you!