An Issue of Justice and the Wolf Packs of Yellowstone National Park
The ivory trade is big business. Statistics show that in a ten year period, one hundred thousand (100,000) African elephants are killed for their ivory, approximately 65% of the elephant population. (Safina 100) These sacrifices are tremendous and have a severe impact on the wolf pack hierarchy, and it is obligatory on our part that changes can be made for their preservation. With the help of Carl Safina, Ph.D. in ecology and endowed chair for nature and humanity at Stoney Brook University, and Martha C. Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, I will take an intimate look into the lives, struggles and tragedies of the wolf packs observed in and around Yellowstone National Park. In addition, I will propose an argument in …show more content…
To her, compassion and humanity are not enough. She also seeks justice and she tries to argue this point in the development of her capabilities approach. To examine justice, what it means and to understand how Nussbaum’s list of capabilities addresses the case of justice for nonhuman animals, I would like first examine compassion and humanity. Even John Rawls agrees that “we have direct moral duties to animals, which he calls ‘duties of compassion and humanity.’” (Sunstein & Nussbaum 300) But that is where he draws the line. The moral principle of justice for nonhuman animals, according to Rawls, would conclude that there would be equality of treatment in equal circumstances for both humans and animals. For Martha Nussbaum, compassion and humanity is not enough; justice is also very important in the treatment of animals. Through her capabilities approach, she details why animals should not be deprived of what they
The ivory trade is big business. Statistics show that in a ten year period, one hundred thousand (100,000) African elephants are killed for their ivory, approximately 65% of the elephant population. (Safina 100) These sacrifices are tremendous and have a severe impact on the wolf pack hierarchy, and it is obligatory on our part that changes can be made for their preservation. With the help of Carl Safina, Ph.D. in ecology and endowed chair for nature and humanity at Stoney Brook University, and Martha C. Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, I will take an intimate look into the lives, struggles and tragedies of the wolf packs observed in and around Yellowstone National Park. In addition, I will propose an argument in …show more content…
To her, compassion and humanity are not enough. She also seeks justice and she tries to argue this point in the development of her capabilities approach. To examine justice, what it means and to understand how Nussbaum’s list of capabilities addresses the case of justice for nonhuman animals, I would like first examine compassion and humanity. Even John Rawls agrees that “we have direct moral duties to animals, which he calls ‘duties of compassion and humanity.’” (Sunstein & Nussbaum 300) But that is where he draws the line. The moral principle of justice for nonhuman animals, according to Rawls, would conclude that there would be equality of treatment in equal circumstances for both humans and animals. For Martha Nussbaum, compassion and humanity is not enough; justice is also very important in the treatment of animals. Through her capabilities approach, she details why animals should not be deprived of what they