Abstract

With Kant, I argue that intrinsic value is necessarily connected to the rational ability people have to value things. Because animals do not have this ability they cannot have intrinsic value. This means that if animals are to have any value at all, their value must be non-intrinsic. But, I argue, we can affirm the basic Kantian story about the loci and sources of both intrinsic and non-intrinsic value and still say that animals matter morally, that their interests must be taken into account, that they are moral patients or subjects, and that they deserve genuine moral consideration or regard.