Skip to main content

Schopenhauer on the Moral Considerability of Animals: Toward a Less Anthropocentric Ethics

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Schopenhauer Handbook

Part of the book series: Palgrave Handbooks in German Idealism ((PHGI))

Abstract

It is well known that Schopenhauer was a big fan of poodles, keeping several in succession as companions throughout his days in Frankfurt am Main, and leaving a tidy sum for the care of his surviving dog in his will. But it is not well known that animals in general play a pivotal role in his philosophical system and in his ethical thought in particular. In this chapter, I aim to show that it is largely Schopenhauer’s thinking about non-human animals —specifically, his view that animals and human beings are on an epistemic and moral continuum—that grounds some of his major departures from Kant. Once appreciated, I suggest, Schopenhauer’s ethical thought in particular offers—with some significant reconstruction—a novel, and philosophically attractive option for contemporary ethical theory, because it takes animals ’ moral status seriously and offers a less anthropocentric approach to ethics .

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Shapshay .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Shapshay, S. (2017). Schopenhauer on the Moral Considerability of Animals: Toward a Less Anthropocentric Ethics. In: Shapshay, S. (eds) The Palgrave Schopenhauer Handbook. Palgrave Handbooks in German Idealism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62947-6_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics