EXPERIMENTACIÓN CON ANIMALES: UN EXAMEN DE LOS ARGUMENTOS EN SU DEFENSA

Abstract

This paper examines the arguments used to claim that we should use nonhuman animals in research, rather than methods that do not involve animals, while we should reject human experimentation. The paper argues that the appeal to an axiological or a normative gap between the weight of the interests of humans and nonhuman animals has several unacceptable implications. It then points at a battery of problematic consequences that other anthropocentric positions have. Finally, the paper argues that even if anthropocentrism is correct, the aggregate weight of animals’ interests may prevail over that of human interest in using them.