Suffering-focused ethics

Abstract

Suffering-focused ethics prioritizes the reduction of suffering over the increase of happiness. Several types of suffering-focused ethics exist, including negative hedonism, tranquilism, and antifrustrationism. These ethical frameworks can be deontological, virtue-based, or consequentialist (negative consequentialism). Because all sentient beings can suffer, nonhuman animals deserve moral consideration equal to humans. The immense suffering experienced by animals in agriculture and in the wild makes their plight a primary concern. Arguments for prioritizing suffering over happiness include the greater impact of alleviating suffering compared to increasing pleasure, the moral problem of inflicting suffering on one being for another’s benefit, the overwhelming nature of extreme suffering, and the prevalence of suffering relative to happiness. Suffering occurs more easily than pleasure, and animals are particularly vulnerable to unavoidable suffering. Therefore, reducing suffering, particularly for animals, should be a moral imperative. – AI-generated abstract.