Harm Reduction, Alternatives, and the Ethics of Transition

Abstract Turner (2026) articulates and defends the Proactive Principle of Choosing Less Harmful Alternatives, which asks agents and communities to develop new alternatives to current harmful practices. Drawing on examples from animal experimentation, this commentary argues that an overly alternatives-oriented approach to harm reduction has problematic limitations. The ethics of proactive harm reduction should be understood not just as an ethics of alternatives, but more broadly as an ethics of transition.