In the Shadows of Dominion: Anthropocentrism and the Continuance of a Culture of Oppression Christopher A
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East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2015 In the Shadows of Dominion: Anthropocentrism and the Continuance of a Culture of Oppression Christopher A. Shields East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Animal Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, and the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Shields, Christopher A., "In the Shadows of Dominion: Anthropocentrism and the Continuance of a Culture of Oppression" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2474. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2474 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. In the Shadows of Dominion: Anthropocentrism and the Continuance of a Culture of Oppression _______________________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Liberal Studies East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Liberal Studies _______________________________ by Christopher A. Shields May 2015 _______________________________ Dr. Marie Tedesco, Chair Dr. Allen Coates Dr. Jennifer Pealer Keywords: Non-human animals, Anthropocentrism, Oppression, Dominion, Animal ethics, Factory farming, Racism, Sexism ABSTRACT In the Shadows of Dominion: Anthropocentrism and the Continuance of a Culture of Oppression by Christopher Shields The oppression of nonhuman animals in Western culture observed in societal institutions and practices such as the factory farm, hunting, and vivisection, exhibits alarming linkages and parallels to some episodes of the oppression of human animals. This work traces the foundations of anthropocentrism in Western philosophy and connects them to the oppressions of racism, sexism, and ethnocentrism. In outlining a uniform theory of oppression detailed through the marginalization, isolation, and exploitation of human and nonhuman animals alike, parallels among the groups emerge as the fused oppression of each exhibits a commonality among them. The analysis conducted within this work highlights the development and sustainment of oppression in the West and illuminates the socio-historical tendencies apparent in the oppression of human and nonhuman animals alike. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................2 DEDICATION .................................................................................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................5 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................7 2. TOWARDS A THEORY OF HUMAN AND ANIMAL OPPRESSION .................................13 3. THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF MURDER AND THE FACTORY FARM ........................28 4. THE MORAL STATUS OF ANIMALS ...................................................................................49 5. HUMAN SLAVERY, ANIMAL SLAVERY: A NECESSARY COMPARISON ...................71 6. THE SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEAT: A FUSED OPPRESSION ..........................................90 7. CONCLUSION: HUMANS, ANIMALS, AND SHARING THE SHADOW .......................101 AFTERWORD .............................................................................................................................111 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................114 VITA ............................................................................................................................................119 3 DEDICATION For Charlie, Bella, Dobby, and Duke as they have taught me more about the human—animal relationship than any book ever could. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The development of this work was only possible through the help and guidance of a number of individuals to whom I am forever indebted for giving their time and energy throughout this endeavor. I want specifically to thank my committee members, Dr. Jennifer Pealer and Dr. Allen Coates, for allowing me the freedom to explore topics within my thesis, both inside and outside of their own disciplinary expertises and for offering their encouragement, insight, and guidance along the way. I want to thank my mother, who, through our daily phone calls, listened to countless ideas and readings of the same pages, but never once complained. I also want to thank my best friend and partner Lauren, who not only acted as a buffer for my stress and frustration, but also sacrificed her own needs through the entirety of the process in order that mine could be fulfilled. I must also acknowledge the authors who have been so critical to the development of the ideas within this work: Marjorie Spiegel, Tom Regan, Peter Singer, Carol Adams, and Charles Patterson. Michael Daly’s beautiful rendering of the story of Topsy the elephant from the onset of this undertaking gave true meaning to the countless hours of research and writing. Most of all, I want to thank Dr. Marie Tedesco, a kindred spirit on issues of animal suffering and welfare, who not only has offered her tireless guidance in the construction of my thesis, but as a teacher, mentor, and friend has challenged me to be a better student and person over the course of the past two years. Our many conversations, discussions, and debates have been a tremendous source of inspiration and a humbling reminder of how much still remains to be learned. Lastly, I want to acknowledge the ten billion animals that are killed through the process of factory farming each year in the United States alone; that is almost 850 million each month, 30 million each day, and over a million sentient souls every hour. We can 5 never claim to be an enlightened and free people until this senseless mass murder is stopped and those hidden in the shadows are brought once and for all into the light. 6 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Here I am! Here I am! Where are you? -Michael Daly, Topsy The lament of oppressed humans and other animals has echoed across time, rarely heard and even less often acknowledged. Within the immense sphere of human and animal oppression, the life and death of an elephant named Topsy is one example of the repercussions of human dominion. Her story has become ingrained in the history and folklore of American culture, not for how she lived but for the manner in which she died. Ironically, the giant mammal was named after a fictive young slave girl torn from her mother at a very young age, as depicted in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.1 Much like her namesake, Topsy the elephant came to the United States and lived under the stringency of oppression. She was taken from her mother and home in an Asian jungle, loaded on a ship and brought to America, where she was enslaved by showmen and forced to perform in the Forepaugh Circus for nearly three decades.2 Her life consisted of continual abuse; she was mercilessly beaten, cut, and burned by her masters. Topsy’s rise to historical notoriety began after she killed one of her handlers who had tried to feed the normally docile animal a lit cigarette.3 The episode would forever bind one of the country’s innovative giants, Thomas Edison, with the three-ton animal in a spectacle that would transcend the time. 1Michael Daly, Topsy: The Startling Story of the Crooked Tail Elephant, P.T. Barnum, and the American Wizard, Thomas Edison (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013), 16-17. 2 Ibid., 10. 3 “Coney Elephant Killed,” The New York Times, January 5, 1903. 7 The final act of oppression against the elephant ultimately would be in taking her life, but the means by which it was achieved forever set the story of Topsy within American lore. A January 5, 1903, New York Times article titled, “Coney Elephant Killed,” chronicled the elephant’s execution. Over 1,500 spectators arrived at Coney Island to witness Topsy’s death.4 The means to end the animal’s life consisted of administering her carrots laced with potassium cyanide followed by an electrocution performed by employees of the Thomas Edison Company, there to showcase the power of human innovation.5 In an excerpt from his book Topsy, Michael Daly details the events of the January 4, 1903, public execution of the gentle giant: Topsy was chained by all four feet to construction pilings so she would be kept in place even if she now decided to move. A noose was looped around her neck and attached to the donkey engine. The wires were dragged over. Topsy immediately complied when she was instructed to raise her right foot for the first death sandal. “Not so vicious,” a reporter remarked aloud. Topsy seemed less a wild animal than a mild one. Another reporter later wrote, “She stood still in the application as quietly as could be asked, obeying all commands of the men even when telling her to get down on her knees.” After the second electrode was fitted on her rear left foot and she was again standing, Topsy did become mildly bothered. She shook off the electrode on