Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics First Annual Oxford Summer School on Animal Ethics 2014

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics First Annual Oxford Summer School on Animal Ethics 2014 Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics First Annual Oxford Summer School on Animal Ethics 2014 Religion and Animal Protection St Stephen’s House, Oxford The Ferrater Mora Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics The Fellows are working in all fields of About the Oxford Centre academic scholarship to advance perspectives for Animal Ethics on animal ethics. We want to put ethical concern The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics (www. for animals on the intellectual oxfordanimalethics.com) is the premier centre for animal ethics worldwide. Our Centre agenda, and contribute to an aims to break new ground for the animals by enlightened public debate about pioneering ethical perspectives on animals animals through academic research, teaching, and publication. We want to put ethical concern The Centre publishes the Journal of Animal for animals on the intellectual agenda, and Ethics in partnership with the University of contribute to an enlightened public debate Illinois Press, and has established a book series about animals. We believe that the rational on animal ethics with Palgrave Macmillan case for animals is frequently understated and twelve of the commissioned books have within academia and misrepresented in already appeared. the media. The heart of the work of the Centre is our international Fellowship of over 80 academics drawn from the humanities and the sciences. School will consider whether religious people A warm welcome to our and religious institutions benefit animals. Are first Annual Oxford Animal they more or less likely to be respectful to animals – either those kept as companions or Ethics Summer School those used for other human purposes? This year, we are examining the role played by We are delighted to have speakers from every religion in animal protection. major religious tradition as well as sociologists, legal scholars, historians, and psychologists. This is the first international gathering of We hope the Summer School will inspire a academics on religion and animal protection dialogue on religion and animal protection. from multi-faith and multi-disciplinary perspectives. I look forward to personally welcoming you to this ground-breaking event. We will examine the ethical adequacy of religious attitudes to animals. Inspired by Baptist Preacher Charles Spurgeon’s claim that Clair Linzey a person cannot be a true Christian if his dog Director of the Annual Oxford Summer School or cat is not the better off for it, the Summer Woolcoombe, a Fellow of Balliol, and John About St Stephen’s Wordsworth, Chaplain of Brasenose College. House, Oxford Among the founding group was Henry Scott Holland, then senior fellow at Christ St Stephen’s House is an Anglican theological Church, and one of the leading figures in the college and a Permanent Private Hall of the development of the Christian social teaching. The institute consists of an University of Oxford. It offers formation, education and training for a variety of St Stephen’s House was founded in international fellowship of qualifications and ministries 1876 by members of the Tractarian academics drawn from both (https://www.ssho.ox.ac.uk/). movement and has stood, ever the humanities and the sciences St Stephen’s House was founded in 1876 by since, in the catholic tradition of the members of the Tractarian movement and has Church of England dedicated to pioneering ethical stood, ever since, in the catholic tradition of the Church of England. For the House’s first years, it was situated perspectives near the centre of Oxford, where the New The House’s principal founder was Edward Bodleian Library now stands. From 1919, the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics King, then Regius Professor of Pastoral House had a site in Norham Gardens, near to Theology in the University of Oxford, and the University Parks. In 1980 it moved to the later Bishop of Lincoln. Associated with King current site, formerly the mother-house of the were William Bright, Regius Professor of Society of St John the Evangelist (also known Ecclesiastical History, Edward Talbot, Warden as the Cowley Fathers), founded by Richard of Keble College and subsequently Bishop Meux Benson. of Winchester, Edwin Palmer, Professor of Latin and Archdeacon of Oxford, Edward Annual Oxford Animal Ethics Summer School The Programme Religion and Animal Protection 21-23 July 2014 ----------------------------------------------------------- Monday 21st July 7.30-8.30am: (Breakfast in the Dining Hall for those staying on Sunday 20th) 8.30-9.25am: Registration in the Summer School Office Couratin Room Hope Room Chair: The Revd Jennifer Brown Chair: Dr Deborah Jones 9.25 Welcome by Professor Andrew Linzey 9.25 Welcome by Clair Linzey 9.30 -10.15 The Most Revd Metropolitan 9.30 -10.15 Dr Khayke Beruriah Wiegand Kallistos Ware of Diokleia and Woolf Corob Lector in Yiddish formerly Reader in Eastern Orthodox Studies, University of Oxford Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Compassion for animals in the Orthodox Church “Myriads of cows and fowls ... ready to take revenge” – Isaac Bashevis Singer’s vegetarianism and his treatment of animals and animal slaughter in his works 10.15 - 11.00 Professor Deborah Cao Professor, School of Languages 10.15 - 11.00 Dr Simon Pulleyn and Linguistics/ Law School Socio-Legal Research Centre Lecturer, University of Law, London Griffith University, Australia Animals in Christian Canon Law Animals in Confucian and Daoist thought 11.00-11.30am: Tea and Coffee in the Common Room Chair: Dr Ryan McLaughlin Chair: Justin Begley 11.30-12.15 Professor Michael Barnes SJ 11.30-12.15 Dr Philip Sampson Professor of Interreligious Relations Independent Scholar, formerly Research Fellow Heythrop College, University of London University of Southampton Invoking another world: Lord of creation or animal among animals? An interreligious reflection on Hindu mythology Dominion, Darwin and duty 12.15-1.00 The Rt Revd John Pritchard 12.15-1.00 Ryan Brand Bishop of Oxford Doctoral Candidate, Vanderbilt University leads a discussion on Encountering animals: Buber’s prelude to the animal question Anglicanism and animals 1.00-2.00pm: Buffet Lunch in the Dining Hall Tuesday 22nd July 7.30-8.30am: (Breakfast in the Dining Hall for residential delegates) Couratin Room Hope Room Chair: Professor Deborah Cao Chair: Joseph Wolyniak Couratin Room Hope Room 2.00-2.45 Dr Kenneth Valpey 2.00-2.45 Dr Abbey Smith Chair: Dr Kay Peggs Chair: Dr Corinne Painter Fellow, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies University of Winchester University of Oxford Paul Tillich’s method of correlation and the 9.00-9.45 The Venerable Alex Bruce 9.00-9.45 Dr Margarita Carretero-González Animating Samadhi: Rethinking animal-human possibility of a Tillichian animal ethic Associate Professor Senior Lecturer relationships through yoga College of Law Faculty of Arts Australian National University University of Granada, Spain 2.45-3.30 Dr Jagbir Jhutti-Johal 2.45-3.30 Dr Corinne Painter Paradox and practice: The significance of morally relevant From excommunication to silence: Catholic attitudes to bullfighting Lecturer in Sikh Studies Faculty Member distinctions in Buddhist characterisations of animals Department of Theology and Religion Department of Humanities University of Birmingham Washtenaw Community College If the Sikh Dharam is about tolerance and respect Christianity and non-human animal justice: Why don’t what value is placed on animals? most Christians practice what they preach? 9.45-10.30 Professor Chien-hui Li 9.45-10.30 Dr Ryan McLaughlin Assistant Professor Adjunct Faculty Department of History Theology Department 3.30-4.00pm: Tea and Coffee in the Common Room National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan Duquesne University The Christian tradition and the animal defence Cosmic fallenness, evolution, and nonhuman death Chair: Professor Daniel Dombrowski Chair: Kelsi Nagy movement in nineteenth-century Britain 4.00-4.45 Dr Kay Peggs 4.00-4.45 Justin Begley 10.30-11.00am: Tea and Coffee in the Common Room Reader in Sociology Doctoral Candidate, University of Oxford University of Portsmouth Margaret Cavendish’s animalistic observations: Petty Chair: Professor Kurt Remele Chair: The Revd Jennifer Brown Religion, ethics and vegetarianism gods and the hunt for natural knowledge 11.00-11.45 Professor Michael Gilmour 11.00-11.45 Professor Maria Jaoudi 4.45-5.30 Professor Kai Horsthemke 4.45-5.30 Dr Deborah Jones Associate Professor Professor, Department of Humanities & Religious Studies Associate Professor, Department of Education Fellow, Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics New Testament and English Literature California State University Sacramento University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Providence University College, Canada Has the Roman Catholic Church been a blessing or a curse for animals? Hildegard of Bingen: The many realities of African religions and animal protection Rattlesnakes and religion in revolutionary-era America: consciousness: Intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic William Bartram’s Quaker-inspired animal advocacy 5.30-6.15 Professor Neal Robinson 5.30-6.15 Christine Nellist Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies Doctoral Candidate, University of Winchester Australian National University Ancient voices in modern theology: Orthodox teaching and practice in Ants, birds and other affable creatures in the Qur’an and Sufi tradition animal welfare. Transformative Research: Cyprus a Case Study. 6.30pm: Sherry in the Common Room 7pm: Dinner in the Dining Hall 5.00-5.45 Professor Neil Messer 5.00-5.45 Carl Tobias Frayne Couratin Room Hope Room Head of the Department of
Recommended publications
  • Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics Kenneth R
    THE PALGRAVE MACMILLAN ANIMAL ETHICS SERIES Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics Kenneth R. Valpey The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series Series Editors Andrew Linzey Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics Oxford, UK Priscilla N. Cohn Pennsylvania State University Villanova, PA, USA Associate Editor Clair Linzey Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics Oxford, UK In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the ethics of our treatment of animals. Philosophers have led the way, and now a range of other scholars have followed from historians to social scientists. From being a marginal issue, animals have become an emerging issue in ethics and in multidisciplinary inquiry. Tis series will explore the challenges that Animal Ethics poses, both conceptually and practically, to traditional understandings of human-animal relations. Specifcally, the Series will: • provide a range of key introductory and advanced texts that map out ethical positions on animals • publish pioneering work written by new, as well as accomplished, scholars; • produce texts from a variety of disciplines that are multidisciplinary in character or have multidisciplinary relevance. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14421 Kenneth R. Valpey Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics Kenneth R. Valpey Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Oxford, UK Te Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series ISBN 978-3-030-28407-7 ISBN 978-3-030-28408-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28408-4 © Te Editor(s) (if applicable) and Te Author(s) 2020. Tis book is an open access publication. Open Access Tis book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
    [Show full text]
  • Dharma Dogs: a Narrative Approach to Understanding the Connection of Sentience Between Humans and Canines Anna Caldwell SIT Study Abroad
    SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection SIT Study Abroad Fall 2016 Dharma Dogs: A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Connection of Sentience Between Humans and Canines Anna Caldwell SIT Study Abroad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection Part of the Animal Studies Commons, Asian Studies Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Sociology of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Caldwell, Anna, "Dharma Dogs: A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Connection of Sentience Between Humans and Canines" (2016). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 2500. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2500 This Unpublished Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the SIT Study Abroad at SIT Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection by an authorized administrator of SIT Digital Collections. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dharma Dogs A Narrative Approach to Understanding the Connection of Sentience Between Humans and Canines Cadwell, Anna Academic Director: Decleer, Hubert and Yonetti, Eben Franklin and Marshall College Anthropology Central Asia, India, Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsala Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Nepal: Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples, SIT Study Abroad, Fall 2016 Abstract India has the highest population of stray dogs in the world1. Dharamsala, a cross-cultural community in the north Indian Himalayan foothills, is home to a number of particularly overweight and happy canines. However, the street dogs of Dharamsala are not an accurate representation of the state of stay dogs across India.
    [Show full text]
  • UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT of INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION in Re FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE SYSTEM, INC., EMPLOYMEN
    USDC IN/ND case 3:05-md-00527-RLM-MGG document 3279 filed 03/22/19 page 1 of 354 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION ) Case No. 3:05-MD-527 RLM In re FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE ) (MDL 1700) SYSTEM, INC., EMPLOYMENT ) PRACTICES LITIGATION ) ) ) THIS DOCUMENT RELATES TO: ) ) Carlene Craig, et. al. v. FedEx Case No. 3:05-cv-530 RLM ) Ground Package Systems, Inc., ) ) PROPOSED FINAL APPROVAL ORDER This matter came before the Court for hearing on March 11, 2019, to consider final approval of the proposed ERISA Class Action Settlement reached by and between Plaintiffs Leo Rittenhouse, Jeff Bramlage, Lawrence Liable, Kent Whistler, Mike Moore, Keith Berry, Matthew Cook, Heidi Law, Sylvia O’Brien, Neal Bergkamp, and Dominic Lupo1 (collectively, “the Named Plaintiffs”), on behalf of themselves and the Certified Class, and Defendant FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. (“FXG”) (collectively, “the Parties”), the terms of which Settlement are set forth in the Class Action Settlement Agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) attached as Exhibit A to the Joint Declaration of Co-Lead Counsel in support of Preliminary Approval of the Kansas Class Action 1 Carlene Craig withdrew as a Named Plaintiff on November 29, 2006. See MDL Doc. No. 409. Named Plaintiffs Ronald Perry and Alan Pacheco are not movants for final approval and filed an objection [MDL Doc. Nos. 3251/3261]. USDC IN/ND case 3:05-md-00527-RLM-MGG document 3279 filed 03/22/19 page 2 of 354 Settlement [MDL Doc. No. 3154-1]. Also before the Court is ERISA Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Attorney’s Fees and for Payment of Service Awards to the Named Plaintiffs, filed with the Court on October 19, 2018 [MDL Doc.
    [Show full text]
  • Animals As Grace: on Being an Animal Liturgist
    ANIMALS AS GRACE On Being an Animal Liturgist Andrew Linzey ARNEY WAS A REFUGEE. Abandoned, he subsequently found a Bhome at the local animal sanctuary. It was there that we first met him. His shaggy hair, dark brown eyes, and exuberant temperament endeared him to the Linzey family. ‘There goes the woolly rocket’, we would say as he raced before us on long walks. So glad was he to have a home that when any of us opened the front door he would pin us to the wall and lavish his affection upon us. He had, I recall, very large paws, and made ample use of them when he wanted our attention. Still, he gave us much more than we gave him. One day he began to have fits, and an incurable neurological problem was diagnosed. Euthanasia was the advised course of action. The result was devastating for the whole family. Here was a dog badly treated by the world, yet, much as we loved him, we could not save him from suffering and premature death. We elected to bury him in the garden. As we stood around the open grave, I fumbled to find some appropriate words of parting. But there were no prescribed words. The physical neglect that Barney had suffered was paralleled by a spiritual neglect as well. The Churches had really nothing to offer—and nothing to say. The Christian heritage of 2,000 years of spirituality and scholarship has produced only liturgical silence over the deaths of millions of members of other species, even those who share and enrich our lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Animal People News
    European Commission votes to ban dog &cat fur B R U S S E L S ––The European Commis- sion on November 20 adopted a proposal to ban the import, export, and sale of cat and dog fur throughout the European Union. “The draft regulation will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers for adoption by the co- decision procedure,” explained the EC Asian dog. (Kim Bartlett) announcement. “There is evidence that cat and dog fur been found not just on clothing, but also on a is being placed on the European market, usually number of personal accessories, as well as chil- dren’s soft toys.” Asian rabbits. (Kim Bartlett) undeclared as such or disguised as synthetic and other types of fur,” the EC announcement sum- “Just the idea of young children playing marized. “The vast majority of the cat and dog with toys which have been made with dog and Olympics to showcase growing fur is believed to be imported from third coun- cat fur is really something we cannot accept,” tries, notably China.” European Consumer Protection Commissioner Fifteen of the 25 EU member nations Markos Kyprianou said. Chinese animal testing industry have already individually introduced legislation “Kyprianou stopped short of calling B E I J I N G ––The 2008 Olympic Glenn Rice, chief executive of Bridge against cat and dog fur. “The proposed regula- for every product containing fur to have a label Games in Beijing will showcase the fast- Pharmaceuticals Inc., is outsourcing the tion adopted today addresses EU citizens con- detailing its exact origin,” wrote London Times growing Chinese animal testing industry, work to China, where scientists are cheap cerns, and creates a harmonized approach,” the European correspondent David Charter, the official Xinhua news agency disclosed and plentiful and animal-rights activists are EC announcement stipulated.
    [Show full text]
  • Linzey - Xx-4-Index R2:Roces - 01.Qxd 23/06/2009 12:33 Page 1
    linzey - xx-4-index r2:Roces - 01.qxd 23/06/2009 12:33 Page 1 INTRODUCTION Does Animal Abuse Really Benefit Us? andrew linzey It is quite clear that in abusing animals we abuse our relationship with animals, and that we abuse ourselves. We become less human to the extent that we treat any living beings as things. R. D. LAING I Philosophers and thinkers have long accepted that there is a connection between the abuse of animals and the abuse of weaker human beings. A roster of illustrious names can be garnered in this regard, including Pythagoras, St Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Alexander Pope, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Jeremy Bentham, as well as modern ones like Albert Schweitzer and Mohandas K. Gandhi. Immanuel Kant, regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of Europe and the late Enlightenment, was typical in that regard. In his lectures on ethics, given between 1775 and 1780, he expostulated: ‘If he is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard in his dealings with men’.1 Although Kant did not believe that we had direct duties to animals, he clearly held that human interests were sufficient in seeking to limit cruel behaviour to animals. Historically, this view manifested itself in the passing of a range of animal protection measures in the nineteenth century. Cruel behaviour to animals, it was thought, needed to be legally curbed in order to prevent cruelty to human subjects. It found its classic expression in the preamble to Lord Erskine’s Cruelty to Animals Bill in 1809: ‘The abuse of that [human] dominion by cruel and oppressive treatment of such animals, is not only highly unjust and immoral, but most pernicious in its example, having an evident tendency to harden the heart against the natural feelings of humanity’.2 Notice how cruelty is deemed not only unjust but also injurious to ourselves.
    [Show full text]
  • Pueblo County Taxsale Advertising
    Pueblo County Taxsale Advertising Date 10/04/2021 Page 1 1 420406001 313.66 * # LOT 17 SUNSET MEADOWS PUEBLO HOME DEV CO LLC COMM FROM THE NW COR OF 17 331004012 444.96 * C/O BARBARA O CONNELL THE INTERSECTION OF MARTINEZ BRIAN S S2 7-20-64 48.36A S2 OF SEC 7-20- WALKING STICK BLVD AND EI RIVERA ALAN J/RIVERA LANCE -64 E OF D+RGW RR + W2SE4 N PRINCIPIO DRIVE, SAID PT ALSO 35 DICK TREFZ ST OF 47TH ST + W OF UNIVERSITY BEING THE ELY COR OF PAR K LOT 3 BLK 40 BELMONT 26TH 31891 ALDRED RD PARK 18TH FILING ALSO LESS ACCORDING TO THE RECORDED 2 420406001 1,015.45 * E 155.1 FT OF S 112.25 FT LOT 12 NW4NW4SW4 10A (296.40A) LESS PLAT OF NORTH VISTA CAULIFLOWER GARDENS 13.5A ABANDONED RR + RD HIGHLANDS, FLING NO. 1 FILED AMENDED CONTG .40A LESS 5A #599466 LESS 5A #396406 NOVEMBER 15, 2019 AT RIVERA ALAN J/RIVERA LANCE 18 331004016 509.99 * LESS 1.5A #411120 LESS 1.5A RECEPTION NO. 2159276; TH N. 35 DICK TREFZ ST #398118 LESS .01A #553603 TO 75°32'15" W., A DIST OF 2,074.11 LOT 3 BLK 40 BELMONT 26TH CITY LESS 30.29A #559536 TO FT TO THE PT OF BEG; TH S. 3 420406001 1,268.55 * BOTTS CLINTON S OTERO 6TH FILING LESS 10.112A 48°32'22" E, A DIST OF 698.55 FT; 31932 ALDRED RD #577004 TO OTERO 7TH FILING TH SELY ALONG THE ARC OF A E 110 FT OF N 100 FT + W 110 FT E LESS 15.515A #579206 TO OTERO CURVE TO THE RIGHT WHOSE RIVERA ALAN J/RIVERA LANCE 130 FT OF S 100 FT OF N 200 FT 8TH FILING LESS 1.75A #577214 RADIUS IS 720.00 FT,.
    [Show full text]
  • Bob Fischer's CV
    BOB FISCHER [email protected] Department of Philosophy bobfischer.net Texas State University orcid.org/0000-0001-9605-393X 601 University Drive 512.245.2403 San Marcos, TX 78666 EMPLOYMENT Texas State University: Associate Professor of Philosophy 2019-present Texas State University: Assistant Professor of Philosophy 2013-2019 Texas State University: Senior Lecturer 2011-2013 EDUCATION University of Illinois at Chicago, Ph.D., Philosophy 2006-2011 Dissertation: Modal Knowledge, in Theory Director: W. D. Hart State University of New York at Geneseo, B.A., English & Philosophy 2001-2004 PUBLICATIONS BOOKS AUTHORED What Do We Owe Other Animals? Under contract with Routledge. (w/ Anja Jauernig) Wildlife Ethics: Animal Ethics in Wildlife Management and Conservation. Under contract with Blackwell. (w/ Christian Gamborg, Jordan Hampton, Clare Palmer, and Peter Sandøe) Animal Ethics — A Contemporary Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2021. The Ethics of Eating Animals: Usually Bad, Sometimes Wrong, Often Permissible. New York: Routledge, 2020. Modal Justification via Theories. Synthese Library. Cham: Springer, 2017. BOOKS EDITED A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox, 5th Edition. Under contract with Oxford University Press. (w/ Anthony Weston) Ethics, Left and Right: The Moral Issues That Divide Us. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. College Ethics: A Reader on Moral Issues That Affect You, 2nd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. (1st Edition: 2017) The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics. New York: Routledge, 2020. Modal Epistemology After Rationalism. Synthese Library. Cham: Springer, 2017. (w/ Felipe Leon) The Moral Complexities of Eating Meat. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. (w/ Ben Bramble) ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS “Animal Agriculture, Wet Markets, and COVID-19: A Case Study in Indirect Activism.” Food Ethics, forthcoming.
    [Show full text]
  • SHOULD VEGANS EAT MEAT to KILL FEWER ANIMALS? Angus Taylor
    SHOULD VEGANS EAT MEAT TO KILL FEWER ANIMALS? Angus Taylor It is an unfortunate fact that no way of life, and no form of diet, can be entirely free of inflicting harm on others. Even veganism involves harm to animals – something that is implicitly recognized in the Vegan Society’s injunction to exclude exploitation and cruelty “as far as is possible and practicable”. Some sceptics claim that veganism is bad for the environment and bad for animal populations.1 A few have gone further and claimed that a vegan diet actually results in more animal deaths than some omnivorous diets.2 In a 2003 article3, Steven L. Davis quotes Tom Regan as saying: “Whenever we find ourselves in a situation where all the options at hand will produce some harm to those who are innocent, we must choose that option that will result in the least total sum of harm” – which Regan calls the “minimize harm principle”. Based on a couple of empirical studies, Davis argues that, because of the large numbers of field animals killed in the production of crops, a commitment to this principle may require us to reject abstention from meat in favour of an omnivorous diet that includes grass-fed herbivores raised in “pasture-forage” systems. (Andy Lamey labels Davis’s position “burger veganism”.4) In fact, Davis badly misreads Regan. Regan only mentions the “minimize harm principle” in order immediately to reject it.5 A utilitarian calculation of aggregate harm is incompatible with Regan’s own view, which centres on respecting the rights of individual subjects-of-a-life.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Standpoints
    Animal Welfare in Context 4. Religion Introduction Positive Attitudes Towards Animal A Brief Summary of Major Religions and their Attitudes Towards Animals Religion Causing Animal Welfare Problems Further Resources Introduction Religion is all about beliefs - beliefs about creation, purpose, destiny, life, and love. What people believe or disbelieve about God and the world affects all aspects of their being, including their day-to-day behaviour. The animal protection movement is about changing and shaping people’s belief systems about animals. Religion can affect attitudes towards animals, and the way in which animals are treated, either positively or negatively. Religion can be important to the animal protection movement in different ways: - Firstly, it can be used in support of the animal protection cause. This can be particularly useful and powerful in countries where religion is important and influential. Secondly, religion is sometimes used to justify cruel treatment – and even sacrifices – of animals. Some animal protectionists fight against these cruelties carried out in the name of religion. Positive Attitudes Towards Animal All major religions of the world praise creation and acknowledge that humankind depends on nature for its own survival. They also teach compassion and love of all living creatures. Nearly all religions recognise the inherent value of animal life and the need to avoid animal suffering. Positive attitudes are probably generated from two main factors: - Firstly, because such attitudes are included in the religious texts and scriptures. Secondly, because caring and compassionate people who have become revered as religious leaders have consistently recognised that a loving and compassionate God would care about beings who desire to live and are able to experience pleasure and pain.
    [Show full text]
  • Fur, Morality and People Society
    FUR, MORALITY AND PEOPLE - the ethical position of the European fur sector “We must have the means to make SOCIETY ethical judgements in an objective sense for them to achieve a more meaningful, more robust role in our culture and move us away from the corrosive influence of moral relativism and an emphasis on ethical subjectivity.” Michael J. Thompson PUBLISHED BY: FUR EUROPE, AVENUE DES ARTS 3-4-5, 1000, BRUXELLES, BELGIUM, [email protected] FUR, MORALITY AND PEOPLE – THE ETHICAL POSITION OF THE EUROPEAN FUR SECTOR The use of animals in modern society has many forms and purposes, and only rarely can these purposes be said to be essential to humans. While the ethical debate over animal use takes on many perspectives, all farmed animals will die and they have no appreciation of their end purpose. Only one perspective matters to the animals themselves: animal welfare. With the introduction of the animal welfare assessment programme WelFur, the European fur sector sets a worldwide standard that takes animal welfare for fur farmed species way beyond standards in other animal industries. Based on independent scientific research in a dynamic, ever-improving programme, WelFur considers biological characteristics, natural behavioural needs, mental state and the health of the animals. In this respect, fur-farming is both beneficial to society and can provide good lives for the animals. Thus, above all, the moral justification of fur use and fur farming lies in extension of the welfare provided for the animals whilst they are alive. Fur Europe, 2014 2 FUR, MORALITY AND PEOPLE – THE ETHICAL POSITION OF THE EUROPEAN FUR SECTOR TABLE OF CONTENT 3 FUR, MORALITY AND PEOPLE – THE ETHICAL POSITION OF THE EUROPEAN FUR SECTOR 1.
    [Show full text]
  • “I Don't Like Meat to Look Like Animals”: How Consumer Behavior
    ABSTRACT “I Don’t Like Meat to Look Like Animals”: How Consumer Behavior Responds to Animal Rights Campaigns. By Michelle L. Blake. As the animal rights movement enters its fourth decade, it is clear that American attitudes have evolved. Polls show that people are increasingly intolerant of animal suffering and more aware of animal causes. However, their consumption of animals continues unabated and often appears to contradict public sentiment. Consumer habits also ignore numerous pressures to change, including global concerns about the meat industry’s negative consequences for the environment, animal welfare, and public health. Meanwhile, there are more calls to protect animals as science proves that they possess social, intellectual, and emotional capacities that humans have long thought were theirs alone. Although behavior has not kept pace with changing attitudes, it will become increasingly difficult for Americans to ignore the consequences of their consumption habits. Consumers are largely isolated from the moral implications of their choices by numerous mechanisms that allow them to dissociate their use of animals from the suffering of animals. The literature review portion of this thesis examines the psychological and cultural constructs that present unique challenges to animal rights as a social movement. From that contextual backdrop, this thesis then evaluates consumer response to three major campaigns conducted by HSUS and PETA between 1980 and the present. The campaigns are vegetarianism and factory farming, the anti-fur movement, and the campaign against cosmetics testing on animals. While consumer response has been mixed, there are other outcomes from those campaigns that signal broader cultural changes. Social-change literature suggests that practices will resist change until there is an adjustment in the paradigm that drives them.
    [Show full text]