Racism, Speciesism and Suffering

Abstract

Racism and speciesism can lead to suffering in many ways. Most obviously, racist and speciesist suffering can be caused by direct physical harm, relational damage or institutional violence. What is less obvious though is that the racial and speciesist causes of suffering also shape our perception of its nature and treatment. A racist or speciesist way to perceive the nature of suffering can become its major source. Although suffering is generally recognised as a pivotal element in speciesism and racism, little philosophical work has been done to explore the nature of their relation that goes beyond moral analysis. This paper enters new, metaphysical territory by inquiring into what seem to be central aspects of racism and speciesism, and how they relate to suffering. Our contention is that common to racist-and speciesist-produced suffering is a characteristic prejudice that the suffering of the other is too different, inferior or unimportant than to matter.