Abstract

This paper argues that ethical views that place primary importance on the reduction of extreme suffering imply that, at least in theory, it can be better to allow enhanced non-human animals to come into existence rather than unenhanced non-human animals. Furthermore, they imply that it would be even better if no non-human animals came into existence at all. However, it is unclear, from the perspective of these ethical views, whether enhancement or reduction of future populations is the more effective strategy in practice, and whether it might even be better to instead pursue a seemingly more robust and less controversial third option of promoting greater concern for the suffering of non-human animals in the first place. In this paper, I seek to explore the different options from a practical perspective.