Description
| Are Animals Stakeholders? |
Prompt: Stakeholder theory raises the question: who counts as a stakeholder? The question assumes that a stakeholder is a who –– that a stakeholder is, in some sense, a person. Philosophers have long converged around the idea that a person is a being with rational capacities –– a conscious mind that can respond to reasons. There is a long tradition of philosophical argument –– from the Ancients such as Plato and Aristotle, to the Moderns such as Descartes, to contemporary philosophers such as Donald Davidson –– that non-human animals lack either rationality, mind, or consciousness (or, perhaps, all three!). Below are versions of three such arguments. Your task is simple: choose an argument below, and demonstrate that it is unsound.
The Argument from Explanatory Redundancy
[1] If E is the simplest explanation of any known phenomenon P, then E is the account of P that is most likely to be true.
[2] We can fully explain animal behavior without postulating that (non-human) animals have minds.
[3] An account of animal behavior on which animals do not have minds is simpler than an account on which animals do have minds.
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[C] Therefore, the account on which animals do not have minds is the one that is most likely to be true.
The Argument from Language
[1] If E is the best explanation of any known phenomenon P, then E is the account of P that is most likely to be true.
[2] The postulation that animals do not possess rational speech capacities is best explained by their not having the capacity for rational thought.
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[C] Therefore, the account on which animals do not have the capacity for rational thought.
The Argument from Belief
[1] If animals have beliefs that are the result of rational faculties, then animals can evaluate and revise their beliefs for truth or falsehood.
[2] If animals can evaluate and revise their beliefs for truth or falsehood, then animals can evaluate the beliefs of other creatures for truth or falsehood.
[3] Animals cannot evaluate the beliefs of other creatures for truth or falsehood.
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[C] Therefore, it is not the case that animals have beliefs that are the result of rational faculties.
