Handling Tensions between Natural and Utility Purpose of Farm Animals and Crop Plants

Abstract

We analyze the extent to which humans respect farm animals and crop plants and whether humans provide them adequate care. Concerns are justified, since many farm animals and crop plants have become completely dependent on humans for their survival. We explore whether the concept of ‘telos’ can be useful. From a biocentric and ecocentric custodian position, an animal or a plant possesses a telos, a nature of its own and a natural, species-specific purpose, but also a telos through its destination imposed by humanity because of its usefulness and service to human beings. Based on both forms of telos farm animals and crop plants deserve respect and have a moral value. Both forms of telos seem to oppose each other: the more humans domesticate the animal or plant, the more it must sacrifice its ‘natural telos’ to serve its ‘utility telos’. Humans should enable the animal or the plant to realize its natural telos in harmony with its utility telos. Both forms of telos could be reconciled if humans fulfil their moral duty to support farm animals and crops in completing their production cycle in a respectful manner. We formulate some guidelines to operationalize, and give meaning to, the concept of telos.

Changing Ground: Handling Tensions between Production Ethics and Environmental Ethics of Agricultural Soils

“…The dichotomy in the ethics of Thompson or-as others put it-his hierarchically ordered two-tiered system of ethics is exactly reflected in the disconnect between the two teloi which we defined in Struik et al [12] and which we tried to reconcile. In this paper we will try to do the same for the soil telos.…”

“…We explore what soils mean to humans; moreover, we examine whether awareness of the importance of soils can be converted into respect for (the intrinsic value of) this essential resource thus opening up a new route towards holistic soil management based on soil ethics. We investigate whether soils have some kind of 'telos', i.e., a meaning of their own, in congruence with our previous paper on the telos of crop plants and farm animals [12], which could help provide a basis for value-driven choices in soil management.…”

“…Like what was said in the crops section, here even more the partnership of the farmer with his varied livestock, his cattle and his horses, was intensely experienced. Partnership here was intensified to friendship or even brotherhood [12]. Heavy duty work was carried out with draught animals (horses, oxen, buffalos, camels, donkeys) but these were replaced by tractors and utility vehicles.…”

“…But we argue there is also another part of the concept of soil telos, the intrinsic, nonutility part. In a previous paper, we analyzed the extent to which man shows respect for the farm animals and crop plants that produce food and other products for mankind, and whether man provides adequate care for them in return [12]. Concerns regarding this respect are justified, since farm animals and crop plants have become completely dependent on humans for their survival.…”

“…Is a similar need for care and respect justified for soils? To answer our question about roots of and reasons for respecting soils, we explore the concept of telos as we did with plants and animals [12]. In the latter study, we argued that from a biocentric, custodian position, farm animals and crop plants-as species, and therein as a specimen-possess a telos, a sense and meaning of their own.…”