[philwelch]

I see morality as an inherently transactional thing; a universal contract between all moral agents. Humans in a culture together have certain transactional norms that they can expect from each other--you don't murder me, I don't murder you--and it seems to work out. With animals, though, you can't work out the same kind of deal. Most of them would do the same to us as we do to them, given the opportunity. They can and will act savagely towards us, so we are free to act savagely towards them. There are some exceptions--we seem to have worked out a good arrangement with dogs, for instance.