Abstract

This article appeals to virtue ethics to help guide laboratory animal research by considering the role of character and flourishing in these practices. Philosophical approaches to animal research ethics have typically focused on animal rights or on the promotion of welfare for all affected, while animal research itself has been guided in its practice by the 3Rs (reduction, refinement, replacement). These different approaches have sometimes led to an impasse in debates over animal research where the philosophical approaches are focused on whether or when animal studies are justifiable, while the 3Rs assume a general justification for animal work but aim to reduce harm to sentient animals and increase their welfare in laboratory spaces. Missing in this exchange is a moral framework that neither assumes nor rejects the justifiability of animal research and focuses instead on the habits and structures of that work. I shall propose a place for virtue ethics in laboratory animal research by considering examples of relevant character traits, the moral significance of human-animal bonds, mentorship in the laboratory, and the importance of animals flourishing beyond mere welfare.

中文翻译：

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美德伦理与实验动物研究

摘要

本文呼吁美德伦理通过考虑性格和繁荣在这些实践中的作用来帮助指导实验动物研究。动物研究伦理的哲学方法通常侧重于动物权利或促进所有受影响者的福利，而动物研究本身在实践中受到 3R（减少、改进、替代）的指导。这些不同的方法有时会导致关于动物研究的辩论陷入僵局，其中哲学方法的重点是动物研究是否或何时是合理的，而 3R 假设动物工作的一般理由，但旨在减少对有情动物的伤害并增加他们的实验室空间的福利。在这种交流中缺少一个道德框架，它既不假设也不拒绝动物研究的合理性，而是关注这项工作的习惯和结构。我将通过考虑相关性格特征的例子、人与动物纽带的道德意义、实验室中的指导以及动物繁衍超越单纯福利的重要性，为实验动物研究提出一个美德伦理学的位置。