Here's what I personally think about using welfare vs. rights jargon in my advocacy. These are some unpolished thoughts that I'm hoping to explore further in the future.
Pro welfare:
Some anti-incrementalist animal advocates try to gatekeep the term "animal rights". They frequently complain when incrementalist folks use the expression "animal rights". When I ask these advocates "What kind of empirical evidence would change your mind" sometimes I get the response "No biased study in this speciesist world would make me sell out my principles. Just like no evidence could convince me there could be merits to torture, I'm never going to negotiate on the basic rights of animals". This makes me react "Ok, in that case I'm not going to swear allegiance to your banner and I will grow what I believe to be good".
Existing animal advocacy is already heavy on rights. Focusing on welfare jargon allows me to raise a distinct banner, differentiate my brand and organise people who are more sympathetic towards welfarist thinking.
I'm happy with the philosophical welfarist tradition and their moral leadership on many issues. I want to signal continuity with that tradition.
Rights based jargon is in strong tension with non-violent communication. Rights based jargon invokes a frame in which some people are sinners and should be punished. I'm not sure how useful non-violent communication is. But if it's useful then it's better to avoid rights jargon.
When I look at the arguments themselves before taking peer disagreement into account, my first-order beliefs are very consequentialist. I think arguments against the significance of personal identity and arguments against the moral significance of act/omission or intend/foresee distinction are powerful and correct. As the main purpose of the communication is to make myself clear to the relevant stakeholders, welfare jargon is better equipped to make my beliefs clear.
Pro rights
Many people understand mere moral standing in terms of rights. Saying "animals have rights" is basically equivalent to saying "animals have moral standing" for these people. Â So singling out animals by talking about "animal welfare" when the whole world talks about "human rights" might diminish perceived moral standing of animals.
In Turkish civil society, the term "rights based" is used to differentiate organisations that play by the rules of international human rights framework. I'm a huge fan of these norms and I'm happy to play by that book. Refusing being "rights based" because of my philosophical commitments would confuse people about where I stand in a political divide.
Since I take peer disagreement very seriously, I give significant credence to rights based theories and I'm not a welfarist. I also would like basic legal human rights to be extended to non-human animals. Avoiding rights terminology makes it harder to communicate this aspect of my thinking.Â
I want to maintain that incrementalist animal advocacy and wild animal welfare work are actually compatible with a rights based ethical theory. By avoiding rights language, I fear conceding this framework entirely to anti incrementalist advocates.
well, I personally don't talk about animal rights because I don't believe in animal rights, and find the way most right discussions go bad and mind-killed. I also don't talk about right when talking about malaria in Africa! people don't have "right" to not be sick. I want people not to be sick and die, and willing to pay for that.Â
I just generally don't look on the world using right-glasses, and don't find those googles helpful. quit the opposite.Â
my question is the opposite - why do you want to talk about rights? Â In my model, EAs tend talk less about right, because the sort of people who tend to become EAs tend to think less in framework of rights, and more in the EA framework. that the default EA reaction to sentence like "animals should have rights to wellbeing" should be "taboo the word right".
(I don't personally active in anything, i give 29.5% of my donations to Animal Welfare. and this is the name i use in a file that I created for myself, to describe the categories the way i think about them.)
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Thanks for the response! I didn't first think of different moral value systems which obviously have an impact on how people view the issue of animal suffering and well-being. I still think a 'rights' mindset can be a valuable extension of utilitarianism, for implementing the change we want to happen on an institutional/legislative level to improve animal welfare. I also think it is easier to imagine personhood for non-human animals when using a rights-based approach. They are not just beings that events are happening to, but individuals for whom the ability to live a full life using their capabilities is instrumental for their well-being. And there talking about rights can be useful. That's how I'd quickly sum up how I think about it :)Â
well, i think the right framework is net-negative on the margin, and the world will be better place if people will talk less about human rights.Â
and I'm not... talking about things because they are useful. i also don't think it's fair description to what you do - it's look to me you actually believe in animal rights, and this is why you support it. and i just... don't.
the reason EA don't use this framework, in my model, is that most EA don't believe in animal right. to change that, you need to convince people that it's good framework and they should use it.
and then they will use it, nit because it's useful, but because it's true. which is the right thing to do, in my opinion - saying things because one believe they are true. i don't even start the discussion about "is right talk will help animals and the world", because even if the answer is "yes", i will not be part of it as long as i believe it's wrong framework.Â
so, in short: EA tend to believe less in the rights framework then the general population and so use it less.Â
(it's also, in my opinion, one of the things that define EA, but Ozy explain it better then i can: https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/effective-altruism-maximizing-welfarist )