Kyle Johannsen, "Wild Animal Ethics: The Moral and Political Problem of Wild Animal Suffering" (Routledge, 2020)
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What is the central thesis of Kyle Johannsen’s book on wild animal suffering?
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How does the R‑strategy vs. K‑strategy distinction explain wild animal suffering?
Today's interview is with Kyle Johansson, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Queen's University. His new book Wild animal ethics the moral and political problem of wild animal suffering is just out from Routlet. Many sentient or possibly sentient wild animals follow a reproductive strategy whereby they have very large numbers of offspring and The vast majority of which suffer and die quickly. Or suffer and die slowly. Either way, there is a huge amount of suffering in the wild. And it is a truism in ethics that we have a duty to alleviate or prevent unnecessary suffering. If we could intervene in nature to prevent the suffering, shouldn't we? In his new book, Johansson argues that we do have this duty.
On his view, the value of unspoiled nature is only conflict conflicts with botched interventions, not effective ones. And we already do intervene effectively in ways that do help wild animals, such as through rabies vaccinations that are intended primarily to protect domesticated animals. But through gene editing or other methods, we could do quite a bit more. For example, create a three week window from birth. Whereby newborns do not suffer from pain. Or even more drastically turn carnivores into herbivores. Johansson offers a provocative discussion of this relatively neglected issue of animal welfare. And also offers some recommendations on how we can address it. Let's turn to the interview.
Why does Johannsen argue we have a moral duty to intervene in nature?
Hello, Kyle Johansson. Welcome to New Books in Philosophy.
Hi Carrie, thanks for having me.
Um really excited about this book. I mean it was very, very provocative to say the least. Um Uh it just raise a lot of really interesting issues and and sort of comes to conclusions that make me feel like that can't possibly be the right thing. Uh which is always interesting because it means, you know, that you have have to have some, you know, fairly plausible arguments, you know, for conclusions that that just seem like crazy, right? Um so before we get to wild animal ethics, the moral and political political problem of wild animal suffering. Um, tell us a bit about yourself, right? What your philosophical interests are, your your sort of um, you know, how you came to write the book, um, you know, a bit about yourself as a philosopher.
Okay, yeah, sure.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central thesis of Kyle Johannsen’s book on wild animal suffering?
0:00–1:45
2
How does the R‑strategy vs. K‑strategy distinction explain wild animal suffering?
1:45–3:21
3
Why does Johannsen argue we have a moral duty to intervene in nature?
3:21–4:31
4
What existing interventions (e.g., rabies vaccination) already help wild animals?
4:31–6:11
5
How could gene‑editing technologies like CRISPR be used to reduce wild animal suffering?
6:11–7:56
6
What are the main objections to large‑scale genetic or ecological interventions?
7:56–9:42
7
How should animal‑welfare advocates prioritize awareness‑raising versus direct intervention?
9:42–11:18
8
What future research and collaborative projects is Johannsen pursuing?
11:18–1:08:57
Speakers
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