Gabriel Westcott: Harm, moral status and the use of animals in biomedical research

Gabriel Westcott (BA Philosophy) joins us to discuss his research project "Harm, moral status and the use of animals in biomedical research".The practice of animal experimentation has been the topic of much discourse in the topic of Animal Ethics, in part because it poses a dilemma for those who oppose it and those who advocate for it alike. Whether we deem the practice of animal experimentation permissible or not, we perpetrate a great deal of harm. Part of task of discerning whether animal experimentation is permissible, resides in establishing whether it is the case that animals have moral standing, that is, whether animals matter in their own right. As, despite the great benefits that animal research yields, if we afford animals moral standing there will be some cases where morality mandates that we favour animal interests over human interests. Episode guest: Gabriel Westcott, BA PhilosophyEpisode host: Prof Simon KempEpisode producer & editor: Jack Dinham