Saturday, October 30, 2010

Trophy Hunting: Harmful to Humans

Regardless of whether trophy hunting might be beneficial towards animals, the economy, or the population, trophy hunting is harmful to the hunter. Killing an animal and using it's body for food or clothing may be acceptable, but proudly displaying the dead body of an animal is not morally justifiable. Killing a human in self-defense is usually considered okay, but it would not be acceptable to hang up the head of someone you killed in self-defense on your mantle. There is no reason to use the body of an animal you killed as a "trophy". Trophy hunting places value on dominance, violence, and ownership of other bodies.
Kant argued that our duties towards animals are actually just duties towards humanity. Kicking a dog is not bad because it harms the dog, but because it harms the character of the human kicking it. While I don't agree with this line of thinking in every context, I think it can be applied to the issues of trophy hunting. Alastair Gunn gave good justifications for hunting in Zimbabwe, but I am still not convinced that the glorification of this violent act is justifiable. Using the dead body of an animal you killed as a trophy is harmful towards humanity.
Question: What is a good justification for the "trophy" aspect of trophy hunting?