Of Mice and Primates

Moral theory has primarily approached questions in animal ethics using utilitarian and rights-based theories. When applied to ethical questions in animal research, these theories typically yield conclusions about whether, or when, such animal uses are morally permissible. Rebecca Walker here argues for an alternative approach using virtue ethics, a moral perspective with roots in ancient Greek philosophy, to consider the ethical questions that arise within the very practice of laboratory animal research. Focused on questions of how we ought to live, what it means to flourish, and how virtues and vices yield practical moral guidance, Walker's use of virtue ethics yields important new insights into animal research ethics.