Ethics and Animals

COURSE READINGS AND SCHEDULE

Brief Course Outline:

Week 1: Intro to Ethics, Intro to Logic and Intro to Ethics & Animals

Week 2: What Are (Some) Animals Like? Animal Minds and Harms to Animals

Week 3: In Defense of Animals: Some Moral Arguments

Week 4: Objections to Defenses of Animals and Defending Animal Use

Week 5: Wearing and Eating Animals

Week 6: Pets; Zoos, Hunting, Racing, and other Uses of Animals

Week 7: Experimenting on Animals, Animals in Education

Week 8: Activism for Animals

Recommended general reading

Students should sign up for these online email lists to keep up on major media coverage of issues concerning ethics and animals:

Dawnwatch News Service: http://dawnwatch.com
Vegan Outreach’s E-Newsletter: http://www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter/index.html

Week 1: Intro to Ethics, Intro to Logic and Intro to Ethics & Animals

Overview:

Discussions of animal ethics are more fruitful when approached after an exposure to general thinking about ethics and methods of moral argument analysis. Theories of animal ethics are typically extensions or modifications of theories developed for addressing more familiar (and often less controversial) questions about human-to-human ethics. Therefore it is important to be familiarity with these theories and methods. These online readings will introduce students to the more influential moral theories and methods of moral argument analysis, and we will read the introductions to our texts on animal ethics.

Required Reading:

Lecture 1: Introduction to Ethics, Introduction to Logic, Introduction to Ethics & Animals

Background reading on how to read philosophy:

· James Pryor (NYU Philosophy), Guidelines on Reading Philosophy: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/reading.html

Readings on argument analysis:

Since arguments for and against various uses of animals often have as a premise a moral principle derived from an ethical theory, we will first learn some basic concepts about arguments. We will then survey some ethical theories, some arguments in favor of some of them (i.e., reasons given to think that a theory is true), and some arguments against some of them (i.e., reasons given to think that a theory is false).

· James Rachels, “Some Basic Points About Arguments,” from his The Right Thing To Do: Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy, 4^th Ed. (McGraw Hill, 2007): http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/rachels-on-arguments.pdf

o About James Rachels (1941-2003): http://www.bradpriddy.com/rachels/jimbo.htm

· James Pryor (NYU Philosophy):

o What Is an Argument? http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/argument.html

§ Vocabulary Describing Arguments http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/validity.html

§ Some Good and Bad Forms of Argument http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/goodbad.html

o Analyzing Concepts http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/analyses.html

§ Thought-Experiments and Counter-Examples http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/analyses.html#thoughtexperiments

· Nathan Nobis, a handout on the basics of logic and arguments: http://aphilosopher.googlepages.com/TheBasicsofArguments.doc

Readings that introduce common moral theories (and critique some of them):

· James Rachels, “A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy,” from The Right Thing To Do: http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/rachels-intro-to-ethics.pdf

· Tom Regan, “The Case for Animal Rights,” from Tom Regan and Peter Singer, eds., In Defense of Animals (Blackwell, 1985): http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/regancase_for_animal_rights.pdf ; also available here: http://www.animal-rights-library.com/texts-m/regan03.htm

Readings that introduce our texts:

ANIMAL LIBERATION – Preface to the 1975 Edition

ANIMAL LIBERATION – Preface to the 1990 Edition

ANIMAL LIBERATION – Preface to the 2002 Edition

EMPTY CAGES – FORWARD by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

EMPTY CAGES – PROLOGUE: The Cat

EMPTY CAGES – EPILOGUE: The Cat

EMPTY CAGES – PART I NORMAN ROCKWELL AMERICANS

EMPTY CAGES – 1. Who Are You Animal Rights Advocates Anyway?

EMPTY CAGES – 2. How Did You Get That Way?

Part I of Empty Cages discusses the influence the media and special interest politics have on how ethics & animals issues are typically approached. It also explains some different routes people might take to becoming involved in animal issues and Regan’s tells personal story of how he became an Animal Rights Advocate. This part of the book is, strictly speaking, not philosophy or ethics (but it surely relevant to ethics) and is an interesting, easy read.

ANIMALS LIKE US – Editor’ s Introduction by Colin McGinn

ANIMALS LIKE US – Introduction

ANIMAL RIGHTS: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION – Preface

ANIMAL RIGHTS: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION – Ch. 1. Introduction to the Issues

Week 3: In Defense of Animals: Some Moral Arguments

Overview:

This week we will survey the most influential “theories of animal ethics,” i.e., general theories that attempt to explain the nature and extent of our moral obligations toward various animals, which have been used to argue in defense of animals. As we will see, these theories are often extensions or developments of the moral theories that have been developed to explain how humans ought to treat other human beings. These thinkers often argue that the moral theory (or theories) that best explain the nature and extent of our moral obligations to human beings (especially vulnerable ones, such as babies, children, the mentally challenged, the elderly, and so on) have positive implications for many animals as well. Thus, they often argue that there are no relevant differences between the kinds of cases to justify protecting human beings but allowing serious harms to animals and, therefore, animals are due moral protections comparable to at least those given to comparably-conscious, aware, sentient human beings.

Required Reading:

Lecture 3: In Defense of Animals: Some Moral Arguments

ANIMAL LIBERATION – 1. All Animals Are Equal . . . or why the ethical principle on which human equlity rests requires us to extend equal consideration to animals too

EMPTY CAGES – PART II MORAL RIGHTS: WHAT THEY ARE AND WHY THEY MATTER

EMPTY CAGES – 3. Human Rights

EMPTY CAGES – 4. Animal Rights (entire chapter or until p. 62, where objections begin: this section will be re-assigned below)

Videos: Tom Regan:

From 2006, “Animal Rights: An Introduction”: http://www.vorlesungen-tierrechte.de/test/ilar2.php?area=2&lang=en Also here: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=rainerebert&p=r (GET EXACT LINK)

From 1989, “Does the animal kingdom need a bill of rights?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADhNch30Img and beginning at the 4:37 point here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG1Adi9dCbU

“To the best of my recollection, the speech I gave, as presented on YouTube, was given in 1989, in London, under the auspices of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. It was part of a debate over the question, ‘Does the animal kingdom need a bill of rights?’ I spoke in favor of the proposal, as did Andrew Linzey and Richard Ryder. Germaine Greer and Mary Warnock spoke against it. For its time, the event was a big deal. As I recall, the BBC televised it throughout the UK on one of the national channels. The room (it was a formal setting, in a regal hall) was packed, those in the audience as respectful as they were attentive. I do not think there was any formal, or informal, vote on the question. So who won the debate is not something anyone can know. I do know, though, that it was a memorable event in my life. For me, personally, I had never before (and have not since) had the opportunity to address so many people, at one time, and in so many different places, on the philosophy of animal rights. I will never forget it.” – Tom Regan, 2007

ANIMALS LIKE US – Ch. 2. The Moral Club

ANIMAL RIGHTS: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION – Ch. 2. The Moral Status of Animals (pp. 23-36 survey some criticisms of theories given in defense of animals and some moral theories used to argue in defense of animal use; these can be skipped or skimmed until next week).

Video: Mylan Engel, (NIU Philosophy), “Do animals have rights and does it matter if they don’t?” http://www.vorlesungen-tierrechte.de/test/ilar2.php?area=2&lang=en Also here: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=rainerebert&p=r (GET EXACT LINK)

Recommended Reading, for commentary on above:

Clare Palmer, “Animals in Anglo-American Philosophy” http://www.h-net.org/~animal/ruminations_palmer.html
Scott Wilson, “Animals and Ethics,” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/anim-eth.htm
Lori Gruen, “The Moral Status of Animals,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-animal/

Matthew Halteman, “Compassionate Eating as Care of Creation,” on the intersections of animal ethics and faith issues from a Christian perspective: http://www.hsus.org/religion/resources/compassionate_eating_as_care_.html

Writing Assignments:

Discussion questions from lectures.

Paper 1.

Week 4: Objections to Defenses of Animals and Defending Animal Use

Overview:

This week we will survey the most influential general moral theories that have been appealed to argue in defense of animal use and/or to object to the theories developed in defense of animals. As we will see, these theories are often extensions or developments of the moral theories that have been developed to explain how humans ought to treat other human beings. These writers often argue that the moral theory (or theories) that best explain the nature and extent of our moral obligations to human beings (especially vulnerable ones, such as babies, children, the mentally challenged, the elderly, and so on) does not have positive implications for animals as well. Thus, they argue that there are relevant differences between the kinds of cases that justify protecting human beings but allowing serious harms to animals.

Required Reading:

Lecture 4: Objections to Defenses of Animals and Defending Animal Use

EMPTY CAGES – 4. Animal Rights (pp. 62-74)

ANIMAL RIGHTS: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION – Ch. 2. The Moral Status of Animals (pp. 23-36 survey some criticisms of theories given in defense of animals and well as theories given in positive defense of animal use).

· Optional: DeGrazia discusses Peter Carruthers, THE ANIMALS ISSUE: MORAL THEORY IN PRACTICE (Cambridge University Press, 1992.) http://www.philosophy.umd.edu/Faculty/pcarruthers/Blurb-AI.htm. See especially Chapter 5, “Contractualism and Animals”

ANIMAL LIBERATION – 5. Man’s Dominion . . . a short history of speciesism (See especially the discussion of Aquinas, Descartes, Kant and thinkers discussed in The Enlightenment and After)

Tibor Machan, “Why Animal Rights Don’t Exist” at http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/machan/machan43.html and “The Myth of Animal Rights” at http://www.lewrockwell.com/machan/machan52.html and “Revisiting Animal ‘Rights’” at http://tierethikblog.de/2007/07/15/tibor-r-machan-revisiting-animal-rights/

Video: http://tierethikblog.de/2007/07/23/tibor-r-machan-mythos-tierrechte/ Also here: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=rainerebert&p=r (GET EXACT LINK)

Carl Cohen, “Why Animals Do Not Have Rights,” from Cohen and Regan, The Animal Rights Debate (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001) at http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/cohen-ar-debate.pdf

Video: Carl Cohen, "Why Animals Do Not Have Rights”: http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~rebert/arlectures/media/index.php?f=2&v=cohen Also here: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=rainerebert&p=r (GET EXACT LINK)

Ray Frey, “Animal Research: The Starting Point” (1 page selection), from Why Animal Experimentation Matters.

http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/frey-experimentation.pdf

ANIMAL LIBERATION – 1. All Animals Are Equal – review the objections that Singer discusses

ANIMALS LIKE US – Ch. 2. The Moral Club – review the objections that Rowlands discusses

Recommended Reading, for commentary on above:

Clare Palmer, “Animals in Anglo-American Philosophy” http://www.h-net.org/~animal/ruminations_palmer.html
Scott Wilson, “Animals and Ethics,” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/anim-eth.htm
Lori Gruen, “The Moral Status of Animals,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-animal/

Writing Assignments:

Discussion questions from lectures.

Paper 2.

Week 5: Wearing and Eating Animals

Overview:

Animal advocacy organization Vegan Outreach observes that, “The number of animals killed for fur in the U.S. each year is approximately equal to the human population of Illinois. The number of animals killed in experimentation in the U.S. each year is approximately equal to the human population of Texas. The number of mammals and birds farmed and slaughtered in the U.S. each year is approximately equal to one and two-thirds the entire human population of Earth. Over 99% of the animals killed in the U.S. each year die to be eaten.”[1] This week we will focus on the moral arguments for and against using animals for fur and for food (as well as for different kinds of animal-food production, e.g., “factory farm” versus “traditional animal husbandry”), as well as the relationships between these arguments: what one thinks about the morality of the fur industry might have implications for the morality of meat, dairy and egg industries.

Required Reading on the Fur Industry:

Lecture 5: Wearing and Eating Animals

EMPTY CAGES – PART III SAYING AND DOING

EMPTY CAGES – 5. What We Learn from Alice

EMPTY CAGES – PART IV THE METAMORPHOSES

EMPTY CAGES – 7. Turning Animals into Clothes

Recommended Reading & Viewing on the Fur Industry:

Fur industry representatives:

· Fur Commission USA, a non-profit association representing over 600 mink farmers in the United States http://www.furcommission.com See especially the pages “Animal Rights versus Animal Welfare” and “Fur on Film”

· Fur Information Council of America: www.fur.org/

· National Animal Interest Alliance (defends all uses of animals, so relevant to all issues below also): http://www.naiaonline.org/about/index.htm

Critics of the fur industry:

· HSUS: http://www.hsus.org/furfree/,

· Mercy for Animals: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/fur_farms.asp,

· PETA: http://www.furisdead.com/,

· Tribe of Heart, producers of “The Witness” film: http://www.tribeofheart.org/

Required Reading on Animal Agriculture Industries:

EMPTY CAGES – 6. Turning Animals into Food

ANIMAL LIBERATION – 3. Down on the Factory Farm . . . or what happened to your dinner when it was still an animal

ANIMAL LIBERATION – 4. Becoming a Vegetarian . . . or how to produce less suffering and more food at a reduced cost to the environment

ANIMALS LIKE US – Ch. 5. Using Animals for Food

ANIMAL RIGHTS: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION – CH. 5. Meat-Eating

Jan Narveson, “A Defense of Meat Eating” (2 pages):

http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/narveson.pdf (See Rachels and Regan’s discussions of contractarianism or the social contract from week one).

Temple Grandin, “Thinking Like Animals” (3 pages; last ½ page is where the “ethics” is offered):

http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/grandin.pdf

Ray Frey, “Utilitarianism and Vegetarianism Again: Protest or Effectiveness?”:

http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/frey-veg.pdf

Peter Singer & Jim Mason, Ch. 17, “The Ethics of Eating Meat,” pp. 241- 273, from The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter (Rodale 2006): http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/way-we-eat.pdf

Optional: The following sources, among others, are discussed in this chapter: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s The River Cottage Meat Book: http://www.rivercottage.net/ (Amazon); Michael Pollan’s “An Animals Place” http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=55 and The Omnivore’s Dilemma http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php ; Roger Scruton’s Animal Rights and Wrongs http://www.roger-scruton.com/rs-books.html ; Gaverick Matheny, “Least Harm: A Defense of Vegetarianism,” http://www.jgmatheny.org/matheny%202003.pdf