From Indirect Duties To Direct Duties

In the current discussion of animal protection ethics,the Kantian research on the Kantian indirect duties to animals provides a new way for us to understand the ethical relationship between humans and animals,and then for us to think about the moral reasons for animal protection.Korsgaard’s theoretical attempt to construct Kantian direct duties to animals is a representative argument for this approach,which bases on his criticism of Kantian animal indirect obligations.This dissertation will take Korsgaard’s construction of the Kantian direct duties to animals as the research object,aiming to systematically sort out its argumentation process.The paper will first point out,Korsgaard takes the two criticisms of Kantian indirect obligations of animals as the starting point of the argument of Kantian direct obligations of animals,which are the criticism of animals as non-obligation objects,and the criticism of the internal incoherence of Kantian indirect obligations of animals.Then,in response to the problems in Kant’s indirect obligation of animals,Korsgaard uses the concept of “good”and modifies the concepts of Kant’s reason,value,and “be end in itself” to demonstrate that animals are end in themselves,then constructs Kantian direct obligations.Finally,based on the Kantian’s rebuttal of Kosgaard’s argument,analyze the deficiencies in argument and the parts to be further discussed.