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Chapter 4 - Perversity and Futility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2023

Catia Faria
Affiliation:
Complutense University of Madrid
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Summary

By elaborating on Albert O. Hirschman’s map of the rhetoric of reaction, which identifies the main theses of conservatism in its opposition to social change (perversity, futility, jeopardy), this chapter considers the first set of objections that might be put forward against intervention: perversity and futility. According to perversity objections, we should refrain from intervening because intervention will actually make things worse. According to futility objections, intervention should not be attempted because it is bound to fail, due to either structural or substantive limitations. It subjects these objections to Bostrom and Ord’s Reversal Test and identifies instances of status quo biases in them, providing us with additional reasons to reject them. It concludes that, at most, these objections suggest what the interventionist may easily concede: That intervention should be performed just in case it is informed and when the expected outcome is net positive for wild animals.

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Chapter
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Animal Ethics in the Wild
Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature
, pp. 88 - 103
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Perversity and Futility
  • Catia Faria, Complutense University of Madrid
  • Book: Animal Ethics in the Wild
  • Online publication: 18 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009119948.005
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  • Perversity and Futility
  • Catia Faria, Complutense University of Madrid
  • Book: Animal Ethics in the Wild
  • Online publication: 18 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009119948.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Perversity and Futility
  • Catia Faria, Complutense University of Madrid
  • Book: Animal Ethics in the Wild
  • Online publication: 18 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009119948.005
Available formats
×