11/3/2003: Japanese dolphin kill

[kisrael]

I think it is an uncommon but not hypocritical or self-contradictory to hold that human concern for an individual animal is what gives that animal value "worth" in the sense of whether it's ok to kill it or not.

That said, I think Dolphins are high enough up the intellgence and uniqueness chain that their killing on a large scale should give us pause. (I have a moral sense that uses "non-trivial uniqueness" as a rough measure of a creatures value, what the universe loses when that life is snuffed out. It sounds a little cold, but actually is a pretty morally defensible position I think.)