A Study On The Moral Status Of Animals In Descartes’ Philosophy

Descartes’ views on animals have long been known to scholars.For Descartes,animals are just complex living machines that can’t feel or think.Their all actions are automatic responses to external stimuli,just as machines respond to certain triggers.Based on this view,many scholars argued that Descartes was cruel to animals,but others defended Descartes by arguing that he gave animals moral status.Combined with the textual evidence of Descartes,this thesis mainly discusses whether Descartes gives moral status to animals.In the first chapter,the author combs out three standards of moral status by studying Descartes’ text.First of all,the first standard of morality is discussed.Descartes “provisional moral code” believes that we should use our life to cultivate our own reason,so that we can obtain moral value,That is to say,the first standard of morality is reason.Secondly,the second criterion of morality is sensation.This standard is based on the debate over the issue of animals perception among More and Cottingham.Finally,the third standard of morality is discussed.In Descartes’ views,there are several truths that can guide people to the right path of morality,including the immortality of the soul.For Descartes,whether he has reason,sensation and immortal soul are the main basis for judging whether a living creature has moral status.The second chapter mainly demonstrates whether animals have moral status under the standard of reason.First of all,the author explains Descartes “animals machine theory” from the perspective of machine theory.In Descartes’ views,animals’ organs are equivalent to machine parts,and all animals’ behaviors can be explained by physiological laws.Secondly,to clarify the views that animals are automata,Descartes used a large number of words in Treatise On Man to describe digestion,blood circulation,movement and respiration,which all created conditions for animals self-sustainment.Finally,the author discusses the reason of animals through the bedding of “animals are machines and automata”.It is concluded that animals have no strict sense of reason and therefore have no moral status.The third chapter mainly demonstrates whether animals have moral status under the standard of sensation.First,the author analyzes Descartes’ definition of“sensation”.Descartes believed that sensation has three stages.The first stage is purely physiological and mechanical movement,and there is no participation of the mind in this stage;The second stage and the third stage both involve the mind,but the second stage belongs to direct sensation,while the third stage includes judgment.Secondly,in combination with Descartes’ definition of “sensation” in The First Philosophical Meditation,the author demonstrates that animals have no sense in strict sense.Finally,from the relationship between soul and passions,it is analyzed that the passions of animals is only passive.Therefore,the author clarifies that Descartes believes that animals’ sensation and passions are generated when they are stimulated by external objects,and they do not have sensation and passions in a strict sense.Under this standard,animals have no moral status.The fourth chapter mainly demonstrates whether animals have a moral status under the standard of immortality of the soul.The author first discusses the origin and meaning of Cartesian view of soul.Descartes’ concept of soul is inherited from Plato and Aristotle.For Descartes,the soul performs only one function,it is a thinking thing,a mind or a consciousness,and it is nothing else.Secondly,the author analyzes the relationship between soul and body.In Descartes,although the soul and body are two different substances,it can not be said that they are not related.The place where they interact is the pineal gland.Finally,the author clarifies the soul of animals.Animals have pineal gland,and the pineal gland is where the soul and body interact.Therefore,an animal has a soul,but its soul is a corporeal soul,not an immortal soul.Therefore,animals still have no moral status.In a word,under these standards,animals don’t have moral status.