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Title: Animals and Just Hierarchies
Subtitle: Problems and Questions
Author(s): DITMANSON, Peter
Journal: Ethical Perspectives
Volume: 30    Issue: 1   Date: 2023   
Pages: 19-39
DOI: 10.2143/EP.30.1.3291694

Abstract :
This article examines the proposed relationships between humans and animals in Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World, by Daniel A. Bell and Wang Pei. Bell and Wang locate animals within structures of ‘just hierarchies’ in the human world, arguing for ‘subordination without cruelty’, and ranking animals according to the different relationships they have with the human community. This article examines the historical legacy of such claims of ‘just hierarchy’, discusses the problem of defining a just relationship between humans and animals, and questions the timing and effectiveness of reasserting our dominion over the animal kingdom in the present age.

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