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Dehumanization and the Metaphysics of Genocide

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DEHUMANIZATION AND THE METAPHYSICS OF GENOCIDE: A NEW THEORY FOR GENOCIDE PREVENTION by LAUREN EICHLER A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Philosophy and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2019 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Lauren Eichler Title: Dehumanization and the Metaphysics of Genocide: A New Theory for Genocide Prevention This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Philosophy Department by: Scott Pratt Chairperson Scott Pratt Advisor Erin McKenna Core Member Alejandro Vallega Core Member Michelle Jacob Institutional Representative and Janet Woodruff-Borden Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2019 ii © 2019 Lauren Eichler iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Lauren Eichler Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy June 2019 Title: Dehumanization and the Metaphysics of Genocide: A New Theory for Genocide Prevention I argue that dehumanization is a necessary condition of modern genocide, and that preventing dehumanization should be part of efforts to prevent genocide. Unlike other scholarship that addresses this issue, I hold that attending to the moral status and role of nonhuman animals in the process of dehumanization is integral to this effort. Throughout the history of Western philosophy, nonhuman animals have been used to define the human and, in dehumanization, provide the excuse for one group of humans to do violence to another. The absence of a concern for nonhuman animals from both dehumanization and genocide literature generally speaking needs to be rectified if new solutions for these problems are to be developed. Dehumanization is typically treated as an epistemological problem in which one person or group fails to recognize the humanity of the Other, taking the Other to be a subhuman animal. However, I hold that dehumanization and, subsequently, genocide, are possible because of the metaphysical commitments that render humans and nonhumans as fundamentally different and possessing of different moral and ontological statuses. I point to three metaphysical principles widely accepted within Western thought and culture that contribute to the logic of dehumanization: essentialism, purity, and human iv exceptionalism. I argue that these principles must be re-evaluated and eventually discarded. Current solutions to dehumanization such as rehumanization and human rights function within this metaphysical framework, maintaining an essential distinction between humans and other animals while retaining the notion that the human is superior to the animal. In response, I contend that we need a different set of metaphysical principles on which to base a practice of ethics and politics that would challenge this human/animal dualism, thereby significantly reducing the possibility of dehumanization and genocide as we know it. To do this, I draw on three metaphysical principles of Native American philosophy: diversity, relatedness, and nonhuman liveliness. I argue that the values of respect, recognition, reciprocity, and consent, which are present in Native American philosophies, stories, and pedagogies, can provide the basis for an ethics of relationality that affirms difference and nonhuman agency rather than sameness and human exceptionalism. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Lauren Eichler GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR Boston College, Brighton, MA Connecticut College, New London, CT DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, 2019, University of Oregon Master of Arts, Philosophy, 2010, Boston College Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy and English, 2006, Connecticut College AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Social and Political Philosophy Native American Philosophy Feminist Philosophy Genocide Studies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Copywriter, Vistaprint, Inc., 2007–2012 Teaching Assistant, Department of Philosophy and Department of Humanities, University of Oregon, 2012-2018 Research Assistant, Office of the Provost, University of Oregon, 2018-2019 Lecturer, Philosophy, Old Dominion University, starting fall 2019 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Graduate Teaching Fellowship, 2012 to present current Philosophy Matters Prize, “Ecocide is Genocide,” Department of Philosophy, 2019 vi Mellow Award, “Rethinking Conservation for Inclusivity,” Society for the Advancement of Philosophy, 2019 Inter-American Philosophy Award, “Countering Dehumanization in Genocide,” Society for the Advancement of Philosophy, 2017 Anita and Eugene Tehennete Prize in Philosophy, Connecticut College, 2006 CONNsharp Research Grant, Connecticut College, 2005 PUBLICATIONS: Eichler, Lauren. “Sacred Truths, Fables and Falsehoods: Intersections between Native American and Feminist Logics.” APA Newsletter on Native American and Indigenous Philosophy 18, no. 1 (Autumn 2018): 4-11. Eichler, Lauren and David Baumeister. “Hunting for Justice: An Indigenous Critique of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.” Environment and Society: Advances in Research 9 (2018): 79-94. doi:10.3167/ares.2018.090106 Eichler, Lauren. “Countering Dehumanization in Genocide: Paulo Freire and Thomas Norton-Smith on Humans and Animals.” The Inter-American Journal of Philosophy 9, no.1 (Spring 2018). http://ijp.tamu.edu/blog/?page_id=857 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation project has been the culmination of over ten years of grappling with my personal relationship to the Holocaust and with trying to think through the construction of the concepts the human and the animal. Along the way, many people have been instrumental in my ability to complete this project. The writing of this dissertation topic was largely due to a talk I attended by Thomas Norton-Smith at the 2013 Summer Institute for American Philosophy. I had been working through Levinas’ ethics and worrying over how to respond to his exclusion of nonhuman animals when I heard Norton-Smith talk about Native American perspectives on nonhuman agency. My trajectory through graduate school was changed thereafter, and his work has become central to the development of my project. Initial thanks go to my Professors at Connecticut College and Boston College who encouraged my pursuit of philosophy, especially Kristin Pfefferkorn, Kalpana Sheshadri, and Vanessa Rumble for being incredible models of what women can achieve in philosophy and academia. I owe a significant amount of gratitude to the professors and graduate students in the Philosophy Department at the University of Oregon for creating a collegial yet rigorous space that pushed me through incredible courses and amazing conversations to develop my research down new and rich channels of thought. I am especially grateful to my committee members, Michelle Jacob, Alejandro Vallega, and Erin McKenna. Michelle has provided inspiration and encouragement as I grappled with how to respectfully incorporate Indigenous philosophies and pedagogical methods. The many courses I took with Alejandro were part of the impetus behind my research and gave me the methodological tools to develop my thought. Erin, who stepped in to my viii secondary advisor, held me to a standard that pushed me to deliver the best I could. Finally, I am especially grateful to my advisor and chair, Scott Pratt. Scott took me under his wing shortly after I arrived at University of Oregon, introduced me to American Pragmatism and Native American Philosophy and was the person who most influenced the trajectory of my studies. Though my dissertation project at times felt vast, overwhelming, and even daunting, Scott’s faith in my abilities and his enthusiasm for my work gave me the strength and confidence to persevere. Special thanks also go to my professional support network, my friends, and my family. I would like to thank Kim Donahee, my massage therapist, for giving my back, neck, and wrists the pampering they needed. I would also like to thank Josephine Pruch, my therapist, for listening and teaching me how to be kinder to myself. Paria Akbar- Ahkgari, Jon LaRochelle, Maggie Newton, Bonnie Sheehey, and Rebekah Sinclair have been incredible friends, colleagues, and cheerleaders. Our regular writing sessions, conversations, game nights, and weight lifting provided much-need motivation, distraction, and fulfillment. My cats, Frisky and Roxanne, have both been sources of joy and love who never failed to brighten my day. I would also like to thank my parents, Herbert and Linda Eichler, for their ongoing love and support, for always being proud of me, and for encouraging me to pursue the path I chose for myself. Finally, I would like to thank my partner, Jeff Langevin. Even though the stress of graduate school at times felt overwhelming, our time in Oregon has been one of the most wonderful periods of our lives together. It is with great happiness that I can say that we have celebrated our ten- year wedding anniversary and that I have completed this dissertation in the same month. I look forward to the next stage of our adventure together. ix For my grandparents, Gabriella Schon Eichler and Morris Eichler x TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 II. DEFINING GENOCIDE......................................................................................... 14 Two Definitions
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