Ethics & Animals: Syllabus

Ethics and Animals

SYLLABUS

Course Description

This course will provide an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent of our moral obligations to animals. Which, if any, uses of animals are morally wrong, which are morally permissible? What, if any, moral obligations do we, individually and as a society (as well as a global community), have towards animals? How should animals be treated?

We will explore the most influential answers to these questions – given by philosophers, scientists, and animal advocates and their critics – and attempt to determine which positions are supported by the best moral reasons. Topics include general theories of ethics and their implications for animals, moral argument analysis, general theories about our moral relations to animals, animal minds, and the uses of animals for food, clothing, experimentation, entertainment, hunting, as companions, and other purposes.

Students will write a number of theoretical and practical ethical analysis papers, where positions on theoretical and practices issues concerning ethics and animals are developed, positive reasons are given in their favor and they are defended from possible objections and criticisms.

Prerequisites

None. However, since this ethics course will survey the results of scientific research on the mental and emotional lives of various animals, provide a brief overview on how (US) law regards animals, and uncover the environmental impacts of animal use (especially animal agriculture), students are encouraged to take courses on these topics concurrently or prior to this course for a richer educational experience.

Course Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, students will:

understand basic, fundamental concepts, theories and methods of reasoning from general ethics so that these might be fruitfully applied to particular moral issues concerning animals;

have developed stronger general skills in logic / critical thinking / moral argument analysis so that these skills might be used to more fruitfully identify and evaluate arguments given in defense of, or in opposition toward, particular uses of animals and general, theoretical claims about our obligations toward animals;

understand the most influential moral arguments and positions given in defense of animals and for greater animal protection, these arguments’ similarities and differences, the most common and influential objections that are raised against them and how these arguments’ advocates might respond in defense of their positions;

understand the most influential moral arguments and positions given in defense of animal use and against increased animal protection, these arguments’ differences, the most common and influential objections that are raised against them and how these arguments’ advocates might respond in defense of their positions;

understand and be able to evaluate claims about the morally-relevant empirical information needed to make informed moral judgments on ethics and animals issues;

understand what implications the various theories of ethics have for practical, concrete uses of animals, e.g., for food, for clothing, for experimentation, for entertainment, etc., as well as stronger skills at identifying and evaluating other reasons given for and against such uses of animals;

and have more deeply developed their own views on the nature of our obligations to animals and be more able to provide positive moral defenses of their views and respond to critical objections.

Grading

Class Participation

As an online, instructor-mediated course, you are expected to attend class by logging into the course a minimum of 5 times a week and making at least 5 substantive postings throughout the week. These postings should respond to the assigned discussion questions as well as raise any questions, observations, criticisms and any other responses to the readings and issues. Class weeks will begin and end on Saturday. New lectures will be posted every Saturday.

Class participation will be measured in several ways. First, your attendance will be recognized through your contributions to the postings. Second, the quality of your postings will shape your participation grade. To fully benefit from and contribute to the course, you should raise questions that stimulate discussion about aspects of the readings or the comments of the instructor or classmates. You should actively share thoughts based on your ideas and experiences. More details on netiquette and appropriate postings will be provided.

For each discussion week, you be able to earn 15 points. Each of the five required posts will be graded on a scale from 3 to 0 as follows:

3 points – an excellent post is analytical, integrates reading, and furthers discussion;

2 points – a good post shows familiarity with topic and responds to instructor or classmate’s questions or comments on the week’s topic

1 point – a poor post does not show familiarity with reading beyond classmate’s comments or is off-topic.

Students who do not make five substantive posts will receive a “0” for each missing post. Students are encouraged to post more than five times. The instructor will grade the five strongest posts.

If you face difficulties in posting during a particular week (e.g. travel, family emergencies, illness), please inform the instructor immediately. Accommodations will be made for you to complete a comparable assignment. However, we urge students to make every effort to participate regularly in class.

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Writing Assignments

Over the course of the semester, you will be required to write five argumentative essays, i.e., papers where you advance a thesis (e.g., about whether some use of animals is morally permissible or not, whether some argument in favor (or against) some use of animals is sound or not, whether some theory about animal ethics is true or not, etc.), give positive reasons in its favor, and raise and response to potential questions and objections.

All essays will be posted in order to allow students to benefit from each other’s work and ideas through discussion, questions and debate.

Detailed instructions are provided for the argument analysis exercises and the argumentative essays in the Assignments Folder. Assignments will be graded on analysis, argument, and writing (e.g., clarity, organization) on a scale from 100 to 0. Due dates for papers are firm. Unless you receive an extension from your instructor in advance of the due date, your highest possible grade on a paper will be decreased by half a grade for each day the paper is late. For example, an “A” paper will receive an “A-“ if it is one day late, a B+ if it is two days late, a B if it is three days late, and so on. Assignments and due dates are as follows:

Paper 1: Theories of Animal Ethics: In Defense of Animals	Due on ___. 10%)
Paper 2: Theories of Animal Ethics: In Defense of Animal Use	Due on ___. 10%)
Paper 3: Wearing and Eating animals	Due on ___. 10%)
Paper 4: Pets, Zoos and Other Uses	Due on ___. 10%)
Paper 5: Experimenting on Animals	Due on ___. 10%)

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Required Texts

The course is organized around an initial presentation of three of the most influential methods of moral thinking for human to human interactions. We then see how these ethical theories have been extended to apply to human to animal interactions, i.e., how humans ought to treat non-human animals.

These perspectives are, first, a demand for equality or equal moral consideration of interests (developed by Peter Singer); second, a demand for respect of the moral right to respectful treatment (developed by Tom Regan); and, third, a demand that moral decisions be made fairly and impartially and the use of a novel thought experiment designed to ensure this (developed by Mark Rowlands, following John Rawls). We will see what these moral theories imply for the general “moral status” of various kinds of animals and for particular uses of animals, e.g., for food, fashion experimentation, entertainment, and other purposes. We attempt to evaluate these theories as true or false, well-supported or not and the arguments based on them as sound or unsound.

We will also survey general moral theories that imply that we have few, if any, moral obligations to animals and other arguments given in defense of various uses of animals. One challenge for teaching an ethics and animals class is that there are fewer defenses of harmful animal use developed by professional ethicists than critiques of animal use. Since the common view is that animal use does not raise serious moral issues, perhaps people often do not see much need to defend that assumption. Nevertheless, we will find materials that provide the strongest and most common defenses of various uses of animals so that we might evaluate the arguments in favor of these positions.

There are four required books: they are all available online, used and are inexpensive:

1. Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, 3^rd Edition (Ecco 2002, 1990, 1975). http://www.princeton.edu/~psinger/

A classic, the book that started the modern animal protection movement.

2. Tom Regan, Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004). http://tomregan-animalrights.com

A descendent of a classic, Tom Regan’s 1983 The Case for Animal Rights. In addition to an argument that many animals possess moral rights, the book tells the stories of animal advocates’ personal development (including Regan’s) and discusses the influence of the media and animal use industries have in shaping how people often address ethics and animals. The best general introduction to ethics & animals issues.

3. Mark Rowlands, Animals Like Us (Verso, 2002). http://www.markrowlandsauthor.com/

According to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) some people think Animals Like Us is the next Animal Liberation.

4. David DeGrazia, Animal Rights: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2002). (Amazon). http://www.gwu.edu/~philosop/faculty/degrazia.htm

Provides a general overview of the theoretical and practical issues concerning ethics and animals.

Policy Statements

Academic honesty, a necessary foundation of a learning community, is expected of all students. Violations are unacceptable and are subject to academic penalties, including failure of the course. A record of the violation is submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs; repeated violations may result in suspension or dismissal from the University. Violations of academic honesty include cheating on examinations, plagiarism, and submission of papers for credit in two or more courses. Plagiarism is the act of presenting the intellectual work of others (words, ideas, artwork, computer programming code, etc.) as if it were one's own. Some common forms of plagiarism are (1) submitting someone else's paper as one's own; (2) copying a passage from another source without citing the source; (3) expressing a published idea or theory in different words, without crediting the source of the idea. Plagiarism constitutes intellectual dishonesty and undermines trust between members of the college community. Penalties involving plagiarism are serious offenses, and can result in loss of grade and loss of class standing.

Syllabus: http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/ethics-animals-syl.htm

Schedule of readings and assignments: http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/readings.htm

Schedule of lectures: http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/lectures.htm