Is it possible for animals to commit moral wrongs? For instance, bottlenose dolphins are supposedly known to torment and even rape other dolphins. Many of the capacities once thought unique to humans (language, tool-use etc.) are now commonly ascribed to certain animals; but I've yet to see anyone claim that animals are capable of immorality.

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It seems to me that in order for an agent to act rightly or wrongly, morally or immorally, s/he must be capable of having the concepts of right and wrong, moral and immoral: consequently, it seems to me that if certain animals were discovered to have the ability to have such concepts, then and only then could it be said that those animals were capable of right or wrong, moral or immoral actions. This is, it seems to me, an empirical question--albeit one that we may be unable to answer. But the mere behavior of animals does not, it seems to me, manifest the possession of such concepts.

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