- Future people preview (Oct 6 and 11)
- It's animal week!
- Peter Singer
- Presentations
Animal week
- Monday--do animals count? (individuals)
- Wednesday--domesticated vs. wild animals
- Friday--animal species
Animal ethics
- Is it ethical to kill and eat animals?
- Is it ethical to use them in experiments?
- is it ethical to put them in zoos?
- Etc.
Environmental ethics
- Do we have to stop using DDT partly for the sake of the penguins?
- Do we have to reduce greenhouse gases partly for the sake of the polar bears?
- Is it ethical to cull the bison herd in Yellowstone National Park?
- Should we be concerned about coral bleaching for the sake of the coral?
Question for both: what is the moral status of animals? What do we owe them?
Mixed: Bear Hunting in Connecticut
- Old law: self-defense
- New law: self-defense plus "stand your ground"
- Animal advocates favor: self-defense plus tranquilize-and-relocate
- Others favor: bear hunting season
Will be a helpful example as we look at Singer.
Peter Singer
- Who is he?
- Effective altruism conference
- Should effective altruists donate to animal causes?
Highlights of talk
History
Traditionally, philosophy and religion have assigned very low status to animals, giving humans permission to do almost anything to them. Bible, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Kant. Kant says "not rational, so merely a means." (Up to 6:30)
A turning point
Jeremy Bentham (19th century), the founder of Utilitarianism. Prime directive is to increase total happiness, decrease total suffering. (6:48)
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Change
Dominant view has changed: animals are seen as have some moral standing, but not as much as humans. (Baxter is unusually dismissive.) (7:22)
Singer's arguments
We'll watch 8:45 - 11:30
Speciesism
Singer says we should reject "speciesism"--
"Speciesism...is a prejudice or attitude of bias towards the interests of members of one's own species and against those of members of other species." (8:54, he's quoting from his book Animal Liberation)
Principle of equality
"if a being suffers there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration. No matter what the nature of the being, the principle of equality requires that its suffering be counted equally with the like suffering--in so far as rough comparisons can be made--of any other being." (10:43, quote is from Animal Liberation)
Applied to bear issue--
- A bear's suffering counts as much as the like suffering of a human being
- Generally speaking a bear's interests count as much as the like interests of a human being
- Hunting bears vs. hunting humans: is it exactly the same?
Unresolved issue
What if we could painlessly kill animals, eat them, and replace then with new happy animals?
Next: Clare Palmer
- Argues that we need to distinguish between wild and domesticated animals (Singer doesn't)
- Make a prediction (if you haven't read yet). To which will she say we owe more?
Presentations
Sign up assignment due at 5 pm today (will become available at 1:30)