Ethics on the frontiers of livestock science.

Philosophers have tended to emphasize reductive approaches to rights, virtues and consequences, resulting in the 20th century in two dominant theories, utilitarianism and rights theory. These approaches are well represented in contemporary animal ethics, but are not easily adaptable for livestock science. In particular, the key problems associated with rDNA-based animal transformation are not well articulated by either of these approaches. The most natural way to articulate these issues is through an ethical approach that stresses virtue, but neither utilitarian nor rights theories are capable of accommodating a virtues approach. A more pragmatic style in ethics is introduced as a way to accommodate a pluralism of values in animal ethics, and a pragmatic approach is discussed for topics at the cutting edge of livestock science.