The moral status of animals. A critical analysis of Rawls and Carruthers

In this paper I deal with the moral and legal status of animals. I offer a critical analysis of Rawls' and Carruthers' arguments against ascribing moral claims to animals. I argue that none of their contractualist arguments are valid. However, Carruthers' claim that animals are incapable of experiencing pleasure and pain, although intuitively implausible, deserves closer inspection. If Carruthers' claim is correct, animals are neither moral, nor legal subjects. However, if his analysis fails, the analysis offered in this paper supplies some reasons to accord animals not only moral, but also restricted legal subjectivity.