title: Wild animals in our backyard. A contextual approach to the intrinsic value of animals.
abstract: As a reflection on recent debates on the value of wild animals we examine the question of the intrinsic value of wild animals in both natural and man-made surroundings. We examine the concepts being wild and domesticated. In our approach we consider animals as dependent on their environment, whether it is a human or a natural environment. Stressing this dependence we argue that a distinction can be made between three different interpretations of a wild animal's intrinsic value: a species-specific, a naturalistic, and an individualistic interpretation. According to the species-specific approach, the animal is primarily considered as a member of its species; according to the naturalistic interpretation, the animal is seen as dependent on the natural environment; and according to the individualistic approach, the animal is seen in terms of its relationship to humans. In our opinion, the species-specific interpretation, which is the current dominant view, should be supplemented-but not replaced by-naturalistic and individualistic interpretations, which focus attention on the relationship of the animal to the natural and human environments, respectively. Which of these three interpretations is the most suitable in a given case depends on the circumstances and the opportunity for the animal to grow and develop according to its nature and capabilities.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Science and Society Group, Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. j.a.a.swart@rug.nl
authors.forename: Jac A A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Swart
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keulartz
mesh_terms: D017087:Animal Rights; D000827:Animal Welfare / Q000941:ethics*; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D000835:Animals, Wild; D004777:Environment; D028663:Ethical Theory; D006801:Humans; D019368:Nature; D012931:Social Environment; D013045:Species Specificity