Animals have moral status.

1. 01Define the thesis precisely

   completed

   Define the thesis precisely as a claim about intrinsic moral status of some non‑human animals.

2. 02Identify assumptions and key terms

   completed

   Identify key terms (moral status, moral psychology) and underlying assumptions.

3. 03Specify supporting and opposing evidence

   completed

   Specify that supporting evidence should address normative capacities and ethical significance.

4. 04Gather primary and secondary sources

   completed

   Retrieve relevant entries from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Wikipedia.

5. 05Extract claims and relevant evidence

   completed

   Extract claims about animal normativity, consciousness, and lack of consensus.

6. 06Evaluate source reliability and verify claims

   inconclusive

   Evaluate source reliability (academic encyclopedia, peer‑reviewed) and note uncertainties.

7. 07Construct the strongest supporting argument

   completed

   Construct a supporting argument linking moral psychology to moral status.

8. 08Construct the strongest opposing argument

   completed

   Construct an opposing argument emphasizing the absence of a universally accepted theory.

9. 09Test logical structure and assumptions

   completed

   Check logical validity of each argument and note dependence on contested premises.

10. 10Compare competing explanations

    completed

    Compare alternatives: sentience‑based, rationality‑based, and instrumental positions.

11. 11Record unresolved issues

    completed

    Record unresolved issues such as empirical verification of moral psychology and the role of consensus.

12. 12Produce the current assessment

    completed

    Produce the current assessment that the thesis is underdetermined but provisionally supported.

Research runs

These are stored worker runs. A failed evidence gate is shown rather than hidden.