Animal Rights SMU

REVIEW

2011-05-04T22:54:00.000-05:00

You are welcome to discuss the final with each other in the comments to this post. Feel free to ask each other questions. I may step in as well, but can't directly answer the exam questions.

What next?

2011-05-03T13:30:00.001-05:00

ANSWER ONE

(1) In chapter 10 of Animalkind, I say that animal liberation will be an "endless story," not accomplished all at once like the abolition of slavery. What reasons do I give for this prediction?

(2) I argue that "innovations and alliances" have helped advance better protection for animals. Give one of my examples of an innovation, and one of my examples of an alliance.

Why an endless story?

blacks and whites the same, mice and men not the same
"fuzzy boundaries" of respect--bees, bird "stalking", spying on animal burrows

Progress through innovation

necessity is the mother of rationalization
animal labor no longer necessary --> we see problem --> we adopt humane stance --> we demand protection for animals
animal clothing no longer necessary?
animals as food - necessary or not necessary?

Progress through alliances

environmentalists and animal protectionists
nutritionists and animal protectionists

Making changes, one step at a time

Animal Activism

2011-05-02T09:01:00.007-05:00

THE TACTICS

education
helping individual animals

legislation
undercover investigations (Humane Society, PETA)

Attempt to prohibit (Iowa, Minnesota, Florida)
NPR Story
The Roseacre Farm Video
New York Times, April 13

additional PETA tactics
attention getting billboards

street theater
property damage
harassment (throwing fake blood on fur coats)

Animal Liberation Front
destruction of labs
liberation of animals- slideshow
harassment of experimenters at work and home

THE PEOPLE

Jamison--is the animal rights movement like a religion?

conversion (formative events)
community (rejection by family, new friends)
creed (commitment, evangelism)
cult (pictures, clippings, letters)
class (vegan monks vs. laity)

Is this true? Does it matter if it's true?

QUIZ

2011-04-29T13:02:00.000-05:00

CHOOSE A OR B

(1) (A) Sunstein is pursuing what he calls the "bold strategy": he's urging new rights for animals. (B) Sunstein is pursuing what he calls the "modest strategy": he's looking for new ways to ensure that existing rights are upheld.

(2) (A) Sunstein thinks there is considerable animal protection law in the US, but it is under-enforced. (B) Sunstein argues that there are no strong animal laws in the US, even on paper.

(3) (A) Sunstein thinks animals should be able to bring suit, with humans as their representatives. (B) Sunstein thinks only humans should be able to bring suit, because animals can't think rationally or talk.

(4) (A) Sunstein says a person can bring suit on grounds that they object to violations of existing animal protection law. (B) Sunstein says persons must be injured themselves in order to bring suit.

(5) (A) Sunstein says existing law allows humans to help animals by claiming informational, competitive, and aesthetic injuries to themselves. (B) Sunstein says existing law allows humans to help animals by claiming only informational injuries to themselves.

(6) (A) Sunstein anticipates that Congress will one day grant standing to animals to bring their own lawsuits. (B) Sunstein anticipates that one day Congress will declare animals to be full-fledged persons, thereby giving them the power to bring suit.

Animals in Court

2011-04-29T10:56:00.000-05:00

Animals as defendants in criminal courts

animal trials in the middle ages
The Hour of the Pig (Colin Firth as defense attorney for a pig)

Just for Fun

2011-04-28T13:35:00.002-05:00

Awwww!

No to Legal Rights for Animals

2011-04-27T18:10:00.000-05:00

ANNOUNCEMENTS

I will be emailing you the next article on the syllabus on Thursday morning
we are still going to have two quizzes before the end of the semester
last day of class is Tuesday, which follows a Friday schedule
I will be giving you the questions for the final on Tuesday
today we talked about Posner and Epstein

Yes to Legal Rights for Animals

2011-04-25T07:45:00.080-05:00

PERSONS VS THINGS
I. Persons (you and me) -- rights

positive rights -- e.g. right to vote
negative rights -- e.g. freedom from being tortured, murdered, kidnapped, etc.

II. Things, property, commodities -- have a price -- can be bought and sold -- at most they are "protected"

MAJOR EXISTING LAW (protections)
(1) Animal Welfare Act

lexical approach to human priority - all human goals may be pursued, but we should harm animals no more than necessary, in the process

(2) State Animal Cruelty Laws

Texas
Other States

(3) Humane Slaughter Act
(4) Endangered Species Act

REFORM (mostly more protection)

(1) Reforming the AWA--The UK approach

balance (with discount) approach to human priority - some human goals ruled out, because costs to animals outweigh benefits to humans (even assuming discount)
local vs. state panels
which species? - mice and rats are covered, great ape research banned
no cosmetic testing

(2) Reforming state animal cruelty laws

Reforming animal agriculture
state referenda--California Proposition 2

(3) Reforming Humane Slaughter Act (more species)

REVOLUTION (personhood, rights for animals)

Steven Wise

liberty rights - the negative right to be free from interference (e.g. free from torture, death, imprisonment)
theory #1 - liberty rights derive from full Kantian autonomy (see p. 591)
theory #2 - liberty rights derive from "practical autonomy" (see p. 592)
from another article by Wise: "A being has practical autonomy, and is entitled to personhood and basic liberty rights, if she 1. can desire; 2. can intentionally try to fulfill her desire; and 3. can possess a sense of self sufficiency to allow her to understand, even dimly, that she is a being who wants something and is trying to get it." (from Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions, Sunstein and Nussbaum, eds.)
from Wise's book Drawing the Line--

Gary Francione

ALL sentient animals should be reclassified as persons, not property, and granted basic rights

what would that mean?
Gary Francione's website

WEDNESDAY: Why animals should remain property (Posner, Epstein)
FRIDAY: A moderate suggestion for fundamental legal change from Cass Sunstein

Subsistence Hunting plus Zoos

2011-04-20T09:57:00.002-05:00

TYPES OF HUNTING
Survival hunting
"Canned" hunting
Sport hunting (for food)
Trophy hunting
Subsistence hunting

WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
(directly and inherently)

only individual humans (e.g. Kant, who disapproves of sport hunting)
only individual humans and animals (e.g. Regan and Singer, who disapprove of sport hunting)
only whole ecosystems (e.g. pure environmental holists, who disapprove of hunting only when it damages an ecosystem)
individual humans, individual animals and whole ecosystems (e.g.modern environmental holists)
individual humans and individual animals and whole ecosystems and species (e.g. advocates of US Endangered Species Act)
individual humans and individual animals and ecosystems and species and cultures (e.g. people who give some weight to preserving a cultural practice apart from its harm/benefit to individual humans and animals, ecosystems, or species)

ESKIMO WHALE HUNTING
Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling
How does it look, from the six standpoints above?

WHAT ABOUT ZOOS?
Impact on individual animals vs. impact on species
Your pictures

Is hunting good for wildlife preservation? (cont)

2011-04-18T09:50:00.000-05:00

Today we will finish talking about trophy hunting (see Friday's post).

QUIZ

2011-04-15T13:09:00.003-05:00

TRUE OR FALSE?

(1) Gunn gives an overview of arguments against hunting. TRUE
(2) Gunn thinks trophy hunting is never justified. FALSE
(3) Gunn approves of Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE program. TRUE
(4) Gunn talks about his own experience hunting lions in Africa. FALSE
(5) Gunn is an animal demoter who thinks animals really don't matter. FALSE
(6) Gunn says hunting is the main threat to wildlife in Africa. FALSE

Is hunting good for wildlife preservation?

2011-04-15T09:21:00.007-05:00

PAPERS

Open in Word, open drop down menu under View, check "mark up"
To add/approve/dismiss comments, open drop down menu under Tools, select "track changes," select an option
If you're puzzled by comments or want further help, make an appointment (tomorrow is good)
some did not understand assignment (we'll discuss in class)
APRIL 27 is the due date (now firm!)

***

TYPES OF HUNTING

Survival hunting ("Mr. Caveman")
Canned hunting
Sport hunting (for meat)
Trophy hunting
Subsistence hunting (today's reading, we'll discuss next time)

***

ACT VS. AGENT

(1) The act (among the relevant considerations: impact on animal, ecosystem, humans)
(2) The agent (there can be permissible acts with bad agents--so the question of the agent is separate)

***

ABSOLUTE VS. COMPARATIVE

(1) absolute questions (e.g. is this act of hunting morally permissble?)
(2) comparative questions (e.g. is this act of hunting any worse, morally, than buying a McDonald's hamburger?

***

TROPHY HUNTING - AFRICA

POACHING

OVERPOPULATION AND CULLING

GUNN'S DEFENSE OF TROPHY HUNTING

CAMPFIRE - Trophy Hunting

Zimbabwe Safaris

***

Comic relief

Fall Course

2011-04-14T09:32:00.003-05:00

Hunting

2011-04-13T10:17:00.008-05:00

ANNOUNCEMENT

I will try to return papers (part 1) by Friday or Monday. The delay will mean a later due date for the whole paper. New due date is April 25.

HUNTING

Sport hunting (for food) - e.g. recreational deer hunting (today)
Trophy hunting - e.g. big game African safaris (Friday)
Subsistence hunting - e.g. Eskimo hunting (Monday)
Canned hunting - e.g. 777 Ranch

THE ACT, THE AGENT

The act--wrong or not wrong?
The agent--do hunters have reasonable motives? do they have character flaws?

wrong act, problematic agent (wanton pet euthanizer)
wrong act, unproblematic agent (pet euthanizer who reads wrong label)
permissible act, problematic agent (recreational pet euthanizer)
permissible act, unproblematic agent (responsible euthanizer)

SPORT HUNTING - THE ACT

Individualism--each animal has moral significance--we should assess whether hunters do wrong to individual animals
Holism--only whole ecosystems have moral significance--we should assess whether hunting harms the ecosystem, not the individual animal--holism is "off the chart" (not in any of the camps)

WRONG VS. WRONGER

Is sport hunting (for food) wrong?
Is it worse than eating a hamburger?

SPORT HUNTING - THE AGENT (Kheel's typology)

The happy hunter-motive is enjoyment, learning rules of "fair competition" (what are Kheel's doubts?)
The holist hunter--motive is to maintain healthy ecosystem (what are Kheel's doubts?)
The holy hunter--motive is to "revere and respect" nature (what are Kheel's doubts?)
But all three are also after...(according to Kheel)...masculinity, a quasi-sexual experience

WOMEN HUNT TOO....

INTERVIEWS

#1

HUNTER: I grew up hunting with my dad and all of his brothers and some other family members. It has grown to be a passion of mine and I truly love and enjoy the outdoors. When I am sitting outside I feel closer to nature, and I enjoy the freedom and the feeling of being out in the wild and in the open air.

I never really feel bad because I mostly shoot for food. But at the same time I also go hunting for the thrill and passion, which I guess could be considered bad, but I personally don’t feel that way. I guess other could see hunting as a moral or ethical dilemma but for me it’s a sport and its something I truly enjoy.

#2

STUDENT: Hunting is a male dominant sport, and it is very clear that it is the male bonding experience and the amounts of alcohol involved that attracts the males; I personally believe it is an excuse to drink and behave like teenagers with no chaperones around.

HUNTER: As a kid, I would hunt green iguana, spiny-tailed iguana called “Garrobo,” armadillo, pigeon, and rabbit. At first, I learned from observing and watching the elders. I was told not play with or torture the animal. Then, my dad taught me children to hunt with a slingshot and with traps. I hunted with my brother and cousin at the ages of eight through ten. At nine years of age, I moved to the city and did not need to hunt anymore because I had a job. I hunted because my family needed food to eat. “Garrobos” and Iguanas are hunted during the day. Pigeons, rabbits, and armadillos are better available at night.

#4
STUDENT: How do you feel after you kill the animals?
HUNTER: I guess it might seem sad but it's really exciting when you make a kill because it is hard to do.

#5
STUDENT: My last question was whether or not he believes in the idea that “hunting plays a major role in the maturation process of young men? And if so, do you think the skills they learn from hunting will aid them as adults?” (Kheel p.460). X answered yes, he strongly believes it is a good way to learn morals and values. Through hunting experiences with his father growing up, he has learned many morals, a lot about nature, and the world around him.

#6

HUNTER: It’s not about eating the animals. It’s more for fun. It’s like guys who go fishing. People don’t think there is anything wrong with that. It’s the same thing. It’s fun and more of a competitive thing. Some days we don’t get anything, but the days you get something it’s this huge rush and a lot of guys are proud of their kills”

Do you feel a spiritual connection to the animal you kill?

“I do. I know many people don’t. Though, it’s something ‘real’ is the only way I can describe it. You respect the animal and don’t want it to feel pain. Though, it’s a connection that’s very hard to describe. I think that when you first start hunting you don’t understand, or if you never hunted it’s hard to describe. Though, it’s a connection and feeling of nature and a respectful kill.”

Why do you enjoy hunting?

“Well it’s a way to get away. Though, it’s something I have done growing up all my life, and it’s a way to…I don’t know ‘feel manly’ I guess. Working in an office all week is tiring sometimes it’s the perfect get-away. Though, I also enjoy cleaning the animal, and eating it. “

#8
Being a hunter myself, I find that I am a mixture of the different types of hunters Kheel discusses. I am a happy hunter in the sense that I enjoy the sport. I think it is a good way to bond with the person you choose to hunt with (my dad) and I like the adrenaline rush that comes with firing a rifle with such accuracy to perfectly hit a target from several hundred yards away. I am a holist hunter in the sense that I believe population control (deer and hogs) is the only way to successfully balance out an environment. If we did not have population control hunting then these species would cause even more problems to the ecosystem. I am a holy hunter in the sense that I do believe that being out in nature, killing and preparing my own meal that is 100% completely natural and acquired by me and putting in the hard work to do so makes me closer to nature and animals. I am a huge animal lover and I am 110% against factory farming, however, eating meat that I hunt myself is, to me, more than ok.

#9
HUNTER: I like being in the outdoors and I like the tradition of it. It is something that has been done in the United States for man, many years and I think that it is cool that people are still doing it today. I enjoy harvesting wild meat. I think it tastes better and it is more satisfying to eat. It feels like an accomplishment to enjoy something that you have been patient and worked for. Also, hunting is necessary. Where I grew up in St. Louis, deer are run rampant. If they were not hunted, they would destroy vegetation, and could even injure people by running in front of cars. Another aspect of hunting that I like is that it is a bonding activity. It is something that you can engage in your whole life and pass on to your children.

More special animals

2011-04-08T12:11:00.000-05:00

ANNOUNCEMENT

We will not have class on Monday. Please do the readings anyway and we will discuss next Wednesday.
Please send me your paper by 6 pm today. Find final topic approval email and reply to it, adding paper as an attachment (must be a .doc or .docx file)

ANIMAL PERSONS?

the great apes
dolphins - video on self-awareness

WHAT IF THEY ARE PERSONS?

conservation, welfare, entitlement (Cavalieri's point)

INDIVIDUALISM VS. HOLISM

The blue planet

Are Some Animals Special?

2011-04-05T15:31:00.003-05:00

PAPERS DUE APRIL 8 BY EMAIL

(1) Why is there any discount on animal interests? (Is there?)

Singer: principle of equality - same interests count the same - no discount (but animals don't actually have all the same interests that humans do)
Brody's defense of a discount: social distance view - animals are not family members, not fellow-citizens - they're "strangers" in some extreme sense
Another defense of a discount: the interest in avoiding pain depends on (a) what it feels like PLUS (b) what else it costs you - pain takes away higher quality hours from humans than from animals

(2) Suppose there IS a discount. Is it the same for all species? Is this the right sort of picture? --

humans - no discount
the great apes - 10% [chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas]
cetaceans -whales, dolphins, etc. 15%
other monkeys - 20%
dogs - 30%
rats - 50%

(3) What special protections are there, and should there be, for the great apes?

actual extra protection: (a) special environments (b) CHIMP act (2000) - retirement, not death
about 1000 chimpanzees used in US labs
used to be used for AIDS research, now used mainly for Hepatitis C research - used sparingly
this fits "balance (discount) view" (with low discount) more than "lexical view"
should we abolish use entirely?
only the US and Gabon still use chimpanzees in biomedical research
Great Ape Protection Act - would abolish all research on the great apes

(4) Background

(5) Why abolish research on the great apes?

balance view doesn't apply to humans, doesn't apply to the great apes either
why are the great apes THAT special? (are they?)
are chimpanzees "persons"? what is a "person"? More next time...

Eagle Cam

2011-04-04T10:13:00.000-05:00

Compare the Truman Show....does this violate animal rights?

Free video streaming by Ustream

Common Ground, Uncommon Ground

2011-04-01T08:13:00.000-05:00

WHAT STANDARD?
Ethical standards vs. legal standards

What is the correct ethical standard for judging animal experimentation?
Should that standard be legally mandated by the AWA as the one applied by animal care committees?
What standard is currently applied by animal care committees, under the AWA?

POSSIBILITIES

Animals don't count at all - all animal experimentation permissible
Rights view (Regan) - all animal experimentation impermissible
Utilitarianism - (a) principle of equality + (b) maximize happiness - case-by-case assessment
BDO standard (see Singer) - case-by-case assessment - depends what you'd do to a BDO!
Balance standard (egalitarian) - accepts (a) but not (b) - Is this research necessary? Are costs outweighed by benefits? Are there other ways to get the same benefits? - case-by-case assessment
Balance standard (non-egalitarian): same, as 5, but with sliding scale (i.e. "discounting")
Lexical standard (see Brody--we'll discuss Monday)

IS THIS RESEARCH Morally ACCEPTABLE?

Fat Monkeys

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2011-03-30T11:10:00.002-05:00

BEST AND WORST OF ANIMAL RESEARCH

Harry Harlow - video1 video2
Jonas Salk

POSITIONS

All permissible (Descartes, Dennett, others?)
All impermissible (Regan)
Utilitarians
BDO standard
Is it necessary? Are costs BALANCED by benefits? Are there other ways to get the same benefits?
Others

ANIMAL WELFARE ACT

1966 -Sports Illustrated and Life Magazine articles leads to AWA

main point is to prevent lost pets being used in animal labs
requires adequate food and housing

1970 - Amendments address animal pain.

Anesthetics have to be used during surgery and analgesics had to be offered for pain relief.
More venues covered (circuses and zoos, but not pet stores, pet shows, and rodeos)

1985 - Amendments spurred by exposes of animal labs

Provisions for institutional animal care commitees
dogs must have exercise, primates must have psychological enrichment

Silver Spring Maryland - Dr Edward Taub severs nerves to arms to study nervous system healing - PETA co-founder Alex Pacheco takes undercover position and films - testifies in 1981 hearings

University of Pennsylania - Head injury lab - baboons had their heads crushed in crash simulator - 64 hours of film obtained during raid by Animal Liberation Front - PETA produces film

2002 - more amendments

"animal" explicitly defined so that rats, mice, birds, and reptiles are not covered
prohibition on animal fighting

******

Today's Animal Welfare Act - Highlights

IACUCs (institutional animal care and use committees)

Are they really ethics committees? (see John Young in research facility video)
How do they compare to human subject review committees? How are animals protected, compared to children?
Do they ensure that experiments are in the animal's best interests?
Do they judge the balance between costs and benefits? (testimony, examples)

Technology/Animal Research

2011-03-28T08:21:00.012-05:00

CREATING ANIMALS
(so we can use them as food more ethically)

cow-roos and enviropigs (see last week)
pain-free livestock (see last week, Shriver's NYT editorial, letters)

CREATING ANIMALS
(for other reasons)

Talk by ethicist Paul Wolpe - "It's Time to Question Bioengineering" - the ethics of genetic engineering and bioengineering

OTHER TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS
(so we can use animals as food more ethically)

***

ANIMAL RESEARCH

(1) As seen by advocates--

Research Facility Tour
Medical Progress
Do the animals suffer?
Advocacy

(2) As seen by opponents

Animal Lab (PETA undercover video)

(more next time)

Engineering Away Animal Pain

2011-03-25T13:05:00.000-05:00

Adam Shriver, "Knocking Out Pain in Livestock: Can Technology Succeed Where Morality has Stalled?"

He aims to show

"genetically engineering livestock [without pain] will produce a world with better consquences"
"doing so will not introduce any new 'wrongs' into the world that will be offensive to other ethical theories"

The nature of pain

sensory component (localization and quality--sharp, dull, burning, etc.)
affective component (the "hurt")

Evidence for separateness of two components

lesions to ACC leave human patients with sensory pain; lesions to S1&S2 leave them with affective pain
morphine (which affects ACC more) leaves human patients with sensory pain
behavior of rats after ACC ablation: they seem to lose affective pain but retain sensory pain (see below)

Can animals be created with no ACC, but with intact S1&S2?

peptide P311 controls formation of ACC
knockout mice without P311 behave like the rats after ACC ablation
"P311 is likely play a similar role in all mammals" (p. 118)
the mice can survive...in their cages
knockout livestock would survive...in their limited environment

Now for the argument (p. 119)--

***

Objection 1 - more bruising, not commercially viable

Reply: these animals will still have sensory pain, so they will pain-guard

Objection 2 - these are animals are unnatural, people won't eat the meat

Reply: meat we eat now is unnatural

Objection 3 - "negative affect knockouts could encourage people to be more careless or cruel in their interactions with the animals" (p. 122)

Reply: "These are important concerns..."

Objection 4 - Meat-eating violates animal rights; reducing the pain doesn't change this or make meat-eating less morally blameworthy.

Reply: if people are going to continue eating meat (and they are), then the rights violations will continue, but we can and should lessen the pain.

Objection 5 - GE foods are dangerous

Reply: no evidence of that; also these animals are just missing proteins, instead of having new ones

Objection 6 - GE foods are unnatural, we are "playing God" by creating them

Reply: our selective breeding is already unnatural, and "playing God"

TRUE OR FALSE?

2011-03-25T13:02:00.000-05:00

(1) Shriver says pain could be reduced in animals by eliminating the cognitive centers of their brains.

(2) Shriver says the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the main location of suffering in the brain.

(3) Shriver proposes that we could genetically engineer livestock who lack the affective aspect of pain but still have the sensory aspect.

(4) Shriver thinks livestock who can't suffer are a very distant and remote possibility, but worth discussing just as a thought experiment.

(5) Shriver thinks meat consumption is steadily decreasing in the US because of the increasing number of vegetarians.

(6) Shriver says his argument should convince not only consequentialists/utilitarians, but also people who believe animals have rights.

(7) Shriver presents evidence from studies of non-human animals such as rats and mice.

(8) Shriver discusses the question whether engineering pain out of livestock would result in more bruising and lower meat quality.

(9) Shriver discusses general objections to genetically modified foods like the unnaturalness objection.

(10) Shriver discusses Peter Singer's book Animal Liberation.

PLUS: STATE ONE OBJECTION TO SHRIVER'S ARTICLE

The Case Against GE Animals

2011-03-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

CNN Video - Enviropigs

Paper assignment (under "class documents")

The Ethics of Creating Animals

2011-03-21T11:10:00.001-05:00

ORDINARY ANIMAL BREEDING...

dog breeding
livestock breeding

... VS. GENETIC ENGINEERING (GE)

manipulation of embryos
spider goat

COULD GE SOLVE ETHICAL PROBLEMS WITH USING ANIMALS FOR FOOD?

cow-roo could reduce greenhouse gas emissions

double animal size, cut killing in half (GM salmon)

GE livestock that don't feel pain? (Friday)

THE DEBATE ABOUT GE

GE DEFENDERS

Kevin Smith - biologist with utilitarian point of view

Not significantly different from ordinary animal breeding
Can stop application to humans, if we want to
killing involved, but also breeding; invokes Singer's replacement argument; should restrict to non-self-aware animals
suffering can be reduced; often warranted by total benefits

Bernard Rollin- ethicist with Aristotelian point of view

telos of a species--natural, inborn tendency to a particular form of life - fulfillment of telos leads to well-being - thwarting leads to suffering

respecting telos of your dog means...
respecting telos of your cat means...
respecting telos of cattle means...

we should respect telos of existing species - TRUE
we should not create species with new telos - FALSE
may change through selective breeding or GE (p. 411, chicken example)
Principle of Conservation of Well-Being - change acceptable as long as next generation will be no worse off than previous generation

GE CRITICS

Next time

Creating Pets

2011-03-11T08:24:00.000-06:00

We will first talk more about humane farming--see the post for 3/9. We still need to cover environmental issues and the replacement argument.

If we have time, we'll go on to the topic of creating animals--starting with pets.

Is "more humane" good enough?

2011-03-09T08:33:00.006-06:00

MORE EXTRAS

EXTRA #2 - Animal advocacy event, March 22. Must stay for at least an hour to receive credit. Must also send me an email saying what you learned, how you reacted, etc. Deadline for email: March 23.

EXTRA #3 - Interview a hunter about why he/she hunts or interview yourself (if you hunt). Before you do this, you should read Kheel (AE 454-63). Send me findings by email. Deadline: April 13. I will ask you to share findings with class on that day.

EXTRA #4 - Go to zoo or Dallas World Aquarium, observe, assess, take pictures. Send me findings (and pictures) by email. Deadline: April 20. I will ask you to share findings with class on that day.

MORE HUMANE SLAUGHTER

MORE HUMANE FARMING

I. STANDARD FACTORY FARMING

II. IMPROVED FACTORY FARMING

CAGE FREE EGGS

III. HUMANE FARMING

NIMAN RANCH

POLYFACE FARM

Humane farming in developing countries--"Cattle Camp"

IV. PERFECTLY PAINLESS FARMING

Is there any moral problem at all, if a farm breeds animals, gives them good lives, kills them painlessly, and then breeds more...so that the total quantity of animal happiness is constant? We will discuss Peter Singer's "Replacement Argument" (see Animalkind, chapter 7).

V. 100% PLANT FARMING

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

IS MEAT GREEN? (powerpoint)

YOU TUBE VERSION--

The "eat more plants" message at the end is a simplification. The truth is more complicated. We'll discuss.

Unfair to Women and Children?

2011-03-07T09:44:00.008-06:00

The Least Harm Argument
Before we talk about George, will discuss Davis's argument a bit more. Here it is again--

Note, this is a defense of eating pastured beef, not a defense of eating ordinary beef or other kinds of meat. (Here's an amusing article about beef advocacy.)

Two articles replying to Davis--

Gaverick Matheny
His main point is that Davis should not be comparing equal land growing vegan vs. veg&beef foods. Instead, he should be looking at equal populations consuming vegan vs. veg&beef diets. He says the amount of land involved will be much smaller for the vegan diet than for the veg&beef diet. Thus, the calculations in the above table don't tell us anything important.

Andy Lamey

***

Kathryn Paxton George--A Paradox of Ethical Vegetarianism

She says Regan and Singer put forward a rule against using animals for food that allows for only a few exceptions.

(A) Her basic unfairness argument--

Ethical vegetarianism is impartial and egalitarian (as the principle of equality requires) only if it imposes the same burdens on all people.
The rule against consuming animals imposes greater burdens on women, children, and the elderly.
So ethical vegetarianism is not impartial and egalitarian.

Premise 1
Does this make sense? Are there ways to challenge it?

Premise 2
How difficult is it to be a healthy vegetarian/vegan, for men, women, children, and the elderly?

Vegetarian Diet - follow Canadian dieticians link for info. about vegan diets

More info about vegan diets

(B) The moral underclass argument.

According to George, Regan and Singer do grant some exceptions--people who may eat animal products. What if they grant even more? George says that's not enough, because it makes these non-vegetarians/vegans a "moral underclass." Read first paragraph on pg. 278.

Diets in developing countries are often close to vegan, but nutritionally deficient. Improving nutrition is much easier, cheaper, safer, and "greener" if it involves animal products rather than only vegan products.

Bottom line: "Individuals should choose whether or not they wish to be vegetarians for reasons of health or personal taste." (pg. 279)

***

Other topics
Football on a Vegan Diet?
Animal consumption in developing countries - Heifer International

The Death Toll of Plant Farming

2011-03-04T12:05:00.001-06:00

Today we'll finish discussing Norcross and then discuss Davis.

Exam 1 - I dropped the lowest score, because too many people were unable to finish the exam, or wrote very sketchy last essays. Average score: 86

***

Point distributions (questions below)--

(1) Descartes (10), Dennett (10), Rollin (20), whether all species feel pain (5), whether it's like human pain (5) + 50

(2) reason (10), self-awareness (15), thoughts about future (10), morality (15) + 50

(4) main ideas (15), experimentation (15), food (10), rights (10) + 50

(5) argument (20), one crucial term (5), another (5), Regan against Singer (10), Cohen against Regan (10) + 50

(6) Aristotle (10), Descartes (10), Kant (10), Bentham (10), eastern (10) + 50

***

(1) Explain Descartes’ and Dennett’s arguments that animals have no conscious mental states. Then explain, in detail, Rollin’s case that animals do at least feel conscious pain. If animals do feel conscious pain, should we think that all species feel pain? Should we think that animal pain is exactly like human pain? Defend your answers.

(2) Philosophers and psychologists have long tried to say what makes human beings unique. Some of the most popular proposals are: reason (or insight), self-awareness, thoughts about the future, and morality. Discuss whether these capacities really are uniquely human in light of empirical evidence.

(4) Explain all of the most important elements of Peter Singer’s outlook on ethics and animals. Under what conditions does he think it could be permissible to experiment on animals? When, if ever, is it justifiable to kill them for food? Given his various positions, is it correct to say that he believe that animals have rights?

(5) First state Regan’s argument for animal rights, as if you were speaking to a friend outside this class. (That is, don’t just repeat the version on the handout.) Then explain key terms you used in the argument (like “inherent value” and “subject of a life.”) How would Regan criticize Peter Singer’s outlook on animals? How does Cohen attempt to refute Regan?

(6) Looking back at major figures in the history of western philosophy (Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Bentham), point out ideas that encourage consideration for animals and point out ideas that demote or denigrate them. You must mention all four philosophers in your answer. Do eastern traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism look at animals very differently?

An Argument for Vegetarianism

2011-03-02T11:29:00.000-06:00

We discussed Norcross today and had a quiz. Handout is under Class Documents. We are now back to the regular syllabus. Read Davis for Friday.

Factory Farming

2011-02-28T10:31:00.020-06:00

Today we will talk about factory farming--first as seen by critics, and then as seen by defenders. We will watch the videos marked with a *.

Numbers
9.5 billion animals die annually in food production in the US
218 million are killed by hunters, in animal shelters, research, product testing, dissection, and fur farms (2% of total killed)

The Big Picture
The Meatrix (factory farming)*
Glass Walls (PETA video)*
Cheap Meat (Humane Society)* (if we have time)

Laying hens
Male chicks, space, surgeries, slaughter

Looking down into a dumpster - discarded male chicks

Farm Sanctuary

Broiler Chickens
space, surgeries, slaughter

Farm Sanctuary

Pigs
sow crates, surgeries, slaughter

Humane Society

Beef Cattle
feedlots, diet, antibiotics, hormones, Power Steer

Vegan Outreach

Dairy Cows
space, separation from calves, over-milking, mastitis, BST
what happens to the males?

Veal Calves
veal facts
The Veal Question (industry response--watch "Veal Farm Tour")*

Humane Society

"Seafood"
seine fishing, bycatch, how fish die
dwindling stocks, endangered species

"Delicacies"
foie gras

More on slaughterhouses
Temple Grandin

Health
Vegetarian Diet
Football on a Vegan Diet?
Luxury or necessity? - Heifer International

Environment
Is Meat Green? (my slide-show at YouTube...we will watch later)
Rethinking the Meat Guzzler
Livestock's Long Shadow

Humane Options
We will discuss next week--using more videos and links.

Other
What's in that hamburger?

Beyond Equality and Rights

2011-02-25T10:05:00.004-06:00

READING FOR FRIDAY

2011-02-24T21:23:00.000-06:00

CORRECTION!

The reading for Friday is Animalkind BOTH 100-106 AND 119-128.

No to Animal Rights

2011-02-21T08:50:00.000-06:00

We talked about Cohen's objections to Regan and reviewed for the exam.

Yes to Animal Rights

2011-02-18T15:25:00.001-06:00

See the previous post for announcements. Today we talked about Regan's article and had a quiz. The handout is under "class documents".

Study guide for exam 1 is under "Class Documents."

EXTRA #2

2011-02-18T08:00:00.006-06:00

In preparation for discussing animals as food, it would be great if you tried a vegan or vegetarian meal. You can get credit for this if you did NOT go to the vegetarian symposium on Feb. 17. Bring me a receipt for a meal at one of the restaurants below (dated before March 2) and I'll give you the equivalent of 10 points on a quiz.

Spiral Diner 1101 N. Beckley, Oak Cliff. All vegan. Gets great reviews. Fun, tasty.

Bliss Raw Cafe Preston Center. All vegan and also all raw.

Cosmic Cafe 2912 Oak Lawn. Vegetarian. Very hippie-ish, pretty good.

Kalachandji's 5430 Gurley Ave. Lovely vegetarian (milk but no eggs) restaurant in a Hindu temple. Delicious Indian food, all around interesting experience.

Veggie Garden 516 W. Arapaho. Vegan Chinese food, lots of faux meat. Some people swear by it.

***

CREDIT FOR FEB. 17

To receive credit for attending the Feb. 17 symposium, you had to be there for at least half of the event. If you didn't have the meal, I'd encourage you to go to one of the restaurants above. Otherwise, you won't be able to participate in our March 2 discussion about the taste of vegan food.

POLICY ON EXTRAS

None of the "extras" are required, but if you do them, you'll get relevant experience and improve your quiz/citizenship/extra grade.

Animals and Equality (2)

2011-02-16T09:47:00.004-06:00

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Vegetarian symposium is Thursday Feb. 17, 6-7:30, in Hughes Trigg (Varsity, not ballroom). Go and receive equivalent of a 10 on a quiz. I'll be speaking about meat-eating and environmental issues. Free vegan dinner for the first 50 people--so get there early.

Make-up quiz policy -- the general policy is "no make up quizzes." Your lowest two scores will be dropped, and this should take care of any quizzes you miss. Two exceptions--(a) By university policy, I must allow make-ups when students miss quizzes because of official SMU extra-curricular activities, like playing on an athletic team. (b) In very unusual cases (like chronic illness) I may allow make-ups after a student has already missed more than two quizzes (due to the illness).

If you qualify for a make-up quiz, I'll give you one on some day after the missed quiz. This will be a "pop" quiz on that day's reading, not the missed quiz itself. In other words, it will be a "pop" quiz like the original, but on the new day's reading.

Reading for next time. Warning: it will be hard to follow, but persevere!

Exam next week. I will give you a study guide on Friday.

SINGER (continued from last time)

Animals and Equality

2011-02-14T08:54:00.002-06:00

Valentine's Day Special--Love is for the Birds (clip from 'The Life of Birds").

Also--

PHILOSOPHY CLUB

The Incoherence of Love
Monday Feb 14, 2011 at 4:00 PM
Hyer Hall Room 201

***

Vegetarian symposium is Thursday Feb. 17, 6-7:30, in Hughes Trigg (Varsity, not ballroom). Go and receive equivalent of a 10 on a quiz. I'll be speaking about meat-eating and environmental issues.

***

We will talk about Singer today and Wednesday. Reread or review Singer reading before Wednesday's class.

Animals in Western Thought

2011-02-11T08:49:00.000-06:00

We put various ideas on the "map of animal ethics" (get handout if you missed class).

Indigenous peoples
Bible (1), (2)
Aristotle (1), (2)
Aquinas
Great Chain of Being
Descartes
Kant (no direct duties to animals, but we have indirect duties to other people involving animals)
Bentham (next time)

Animal Ethics Beyond Philosophy

2011-02-09T07:49:00.013-06:00

REVISED SYLLABUS

ANIMALS AND ETHICS

beyond philosophy
history of philosophy
animal ethics today

BEYOND PHILOSOPHY

Why is it OK to kill and eat animals? (Is it OK?) The myth of consent--

Eskimos - the whale gives itself to the people - consents to being killed

Blackfoot Indians - the "Animal Master" consents to the buffalo being killed

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/buffalo.htm

Ainu of Japan - bear returns to woods when eaten, so would consent

Judeo-Christian tradition - God consents only after the flood - BIBLE PASSAGES

Domestication as consent- dogs came to human villages - ancient cattle approached humans too - "It's a deal. If I can graze in your pasture, you can eat me for dinner."

Am I being fair when I call the myth of consent a myth?

NEXT TIME: HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY

Aristotle (4th century bc)
Thomas Aquinas (13th century)
Great Chain of Being (Plato...Middle Ages...19th century)
Rene Descartes (17th century)
Charles Darwin (19th century)
Hinduism, Buddhism
Immanuel Kant (18th-19th century)
Jeremy Bentham (18th-19th century)

Animal and Human Minds (2)

2011-02-07T10:14:00.004-06:00

UPCOMING EVENTS

The first one is for credit. Just go, and you'll get the equivalent of a 10 on a quiz. I will be speaking on the program--about environmental issues. Put it on your calendar--Thursday, Feb. 17, 6-7:30.

The second is for your interest, but come! It ought to be interesting.

****

Since we missed two classes last week, we need to catch up (fast!) before we get to today's topic.

ANIMAL MINDS

Do animals have...?

consciousness, pain, emotion
reason, intelligence, insight
self-awareness, awareness of minds in others
"time travel"
morality

TIME TRAVEL

Episodic memory
Thoughts about future (relevant to badness of death for animals)

Evidence of thoughts about future?

migrating, mating, building nests, incubating eggs (instinctive, therefore no forethought?)


March of the Penguins (movie)

squirrel collecting acorns to retrieve in winter (instinctive, therefore no forethought?)
birds caching seeds for winter
beaver building dam for protection during winter
some apes save tools for future use - LINK (not instinctive)

MORALITY

Animals helping humans
sense of fairness - "inequity aversion" - Brosnan & DeWaal - experiment with capuchin monkeys - LINK
empathy....in rats? - LINK

Class Cancelled Friday

2011-02-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

As I explained by email, I need to cancel class for Friday, February 4. Please continue doing the readings as scheduled on the syllabus. We will catch up next week.

Animal and Human Minds (2)

2011-02-02T08:00:00.003-06:00

SNOW DAY!
~~We will talk about today's topics on Friday (morality and "time travel" in animals) and also go on to the next reading on the syllabus--Animalkind, chapter 1~~. SEE ABOVE As long as you're snowed in, why not watch some videos about intelligence and tool-making in crows? LINK

UPCOMING EVENTS
The first one is for credit. Just go, and you'll get the equivalent of a 10 on a quiz. I will be speaking on the program--about environmental issues. Put it on your calendar--Thursday, Feb. 17, 6-7:30.

The second is for your interest, but come! It ought to be interesting.

Animal and Human Minds

2011-01-31T10:41:00.004-06:00

Are human minds unique? Do we have capacities that are completely missing in animals? Here are some abilities that have been claimed as "human only."

I. Consciousness, pain emotion

(we discussed last week)

II. Language

(in last week's video--see segments about meerkats, bees, chimpanzees)

III. Reason, Intelligence, Insight, Thinking, Decision Making

IV. Self-Awareness

Is it just for humans?

5:45 - 9:25

V. Awareness of other minds

Experiments look for cases where animal figures out what another animal/person is thinking, and behaves accordingly. Highly controversial whether animals can do this.

More about this in parts 3 and 4 of video about animal consciousness.

VI. Thoughts about future

VII. Thoughts about past

VIII. Morality

From Cognition to Consciousness

2011-01-26T16:35:00.011-06:00

1:30 Definition of consciousness--compare movie to Griffin p. 126
2:00 Jane Goodall (sentient vs. sapient)
2:45 Euan McPhail (no consciousness in animals!)
5:00 Blindsight in humans
6:45 Blindsight in a monkey
9:23 normal vision in humans and monkeys is not like in blindsight; tree shrews and pigeons have blindsight-like pathways
11:15 animal pain
12:15 Temple Grandin on animal pain

1:00 animal pain
3:15 distracted driving/bicycling
5:00 mental images in bees
7:55 mental images in chimpanzees
9:15 dreaming
12:00 some people (like Dennett) think animals can only be conscious with language
12:45 monkey language

0:00 bee language
0:45 Euan McPhail expresses skepticism
2:30 language and imagination in chimpanzees
5:45 self-awareness, mirror test
6:15 baboons - fail test
7:22 dolphins - pass test
8:13 chimpanzees - pass test [we will discuss problems with test]
9:25 are animals aware of other minds?
10:30 magpie deceives dogs by imitating ducks-implies they are aware of what the dogs are thinking

0:51 chimpanzees who seem to be aware of human thoughts
4:22 awareness of death

Watch at YouTube HERE for other sizes.

Do Animals Feel Pain?

2011-01-26T09:20:00.042-06:00

A. Pain in mammals

CLICK TO ENLARGE

nociceptors
brain regions
endogenous opiates
response to analgesics and anesthesia
behavioral similarities (e.g. pain-guarding)

B. Is animal pain just like human pain?

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Animals may care less about pain (what does "caring less" mean? laughing gas, morphine)
Lobotomy evidence
Less pain but more fear?

C. Is there pain in birds, fish, reptiles...where does it end?

Pain in fish

Recent study by Lynne Sneddon (Scotland) ... the researchers injected bee venom or acetic acid into the lips of some of the trout, with control groups receiving saline solution injections or simply being handled. All the fish had been conditioned to feed at a ring in their tank, where they were collected for handling or injection. Dr Sneddon said: "Anomalous behaviours were exhibited by trout subjected to bee venom and acetic acid. "Fish demonstrated a 'rocking' motion, strikingly similar to the kind of motion seen in stressed higher vertebrates like mammals. "The trout injected with the acid were also observed to rub their lips onto the gravel in their tank and on the tank walls. These do not appear to be reflex responses." The fish injected with venom and acid also took almost three times longer to resume feeding than the control groups.

nociceptors
endogenous opioids
pain-guarding, rubbing
no cortex (highly intelligent birds have no cortex, flying squirrels have no wings)

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Book: Do Fish Feel Pain? (Victoria Braithwaite)

Other

lobsters plus lots of great links
Sneddon-type study also done on shrimp--same results
David Foster Wallace, "Consider the Lobster"
reptiles don't pain-guard

Do Animals Have Emotions?

2011-01-24T11:19:00.005-06:00

OUR QUESTIONS

Are animals conscious?

Do animals have emotions? (pain, pleasure, fear, love, depression, etc)

Do animals feel pain? (more on that specific emotion next time)

Do animals have reason, self-awareness, time travel, free will....etc?

EMOTION

What is it? should help you figure out...

Which animals have it?

What is the range of emotions in animals/specific species?

What is this dog feeling?

HOW TO PROCEED
Objective, scientific, philosophical reasoning
Any role for empathy?

unconscious, primitive, can't explain verbally
risk of anthropomorphism (projecting human traits onto animals)
but there's also a risk of anthropodenial (refusing to see commonalities between humans and animals)

MARIAN STAMP DAWKINS (today's reading)
(Professor of animal behavior at Oxford)

I. FUNCTIONAL VIEW OF EMOTION (explains what emotions "do").

An emotions consists of...

appraisal plus
action readiness plus
physiological changes and/or facial expressions and/or behavioral action

PROBLEM: on this account, even some plants will have emotions. The parasitic plant she talks about--

II. MECHANISTIC VIEW OF EMOTION (breaks emotion down into parts)

An emotion consists of...

cognitive/verbal changes and
autonomic nervous system changes (heart rate, temperature, etc) and
behavioral/expressive changes (action, facial expressions, etc.)

PROBLEMS

love without just one of these conditions?
love without two of them?
love without any of them?
can you have 1+2+3, but no love?

These conditions don't seem individually necessary or jointly sufficient for an emotion!

III. EVOLUTIONARY VIEW OF EMOTION

explains why emotions evolved by natural selection--i.e. why animals with emotions have greater reproductive fitness (have more offspring) than animals without emotions
with no emotions - limited range of fast, adaptive reactions to environment--we are pre-programmed to react quickly to snakes, chubby baby cheeks, loud noises
with emotions- broadens the range of fast, adaptive reactions--with emotion we can react quickly to important novel stimuli (internet predators, guns, etc.)

Stamp defends evolutionary view, but....

Admits animals could have unconscious emotions, rather than conscious emotions (like Dennett would say). She says she thinks animals have conscious emotions, but she calls this "a personal statement of where I happen to stand, not a view that can be grounded in empirical fact."

How do we know the dog in the video is having a conscious emotion? What's your degree of certainty?

A question for Dawkins...

Which emotions in animals increase reproductive fitness? Love-sick zebras would wind up getting eaten by lions. Depressed wolves would get left behind by the pack. On the evolutionary view of emotion, would animal emotions be fairly limited? Are they really that limited?

WHAT IS AN EMOTION????
Next time: more views on that question, and a stronger assertion that animals do feel emotions, from Bernard Rollin.

Are Animals Conscious?

2011-01-21T09:01:00.002-06:00

Rene Descartes (17th century)

How do I know that I'm conscious? (introspection)
How do I know that y'all are conscious? (you speak)
How do I know my cats are conscious? (they're not! they don't speak...they're like clocks...they're nature's automata)

Eyewitness account of animal experimentation in the 17th century--

"They administered beatings to dogs with perfect indifference, and made fun of those who pitied the creatures as if they felt pain. They said the animals were clocks; that the cries they emitted when struck were only the noise of a little spring that had been touched, but that the whole body was without feeling. They nailed poor animals up on boards by their four paws to vivisect them and see the circulation of the blood, which was a great topic of conversation."

Today we'll talk about contemporary philosophy Daniel Dennett, who tries to revive the view that animals are not conscious (whether Descartes really had that view or not).

Introduction

2011-01-19T07:00:00.004-06:00

WELCOME!

Make sure you read the syllabus (on the right) very carefully. Visit this blog whenever you miss class.

PAST REFLECTION ABOUT ANIMALS--

Pythagoras, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Bentham...

Bible, Native Americans, Hinduism....

1975, Peter Singer, Animal Liberation...the modern animal rights movement

WHY REFLECTION IS MORE URGENT THAN EVER--

(1) ANIMALS AS FOOD

Factory farming - HSUS Chickens

1/3 of earth's non-ice land surface already used for livestock and feedcrops

Population rising from 7 billion now to 9 billion by 2050 - developing countries getting richer, eating more meat- Livestock's Long Shadow (UN Report, 2006)

(2) CREATING ANIMALS

Genetically engineered animals - the spider goat - "Researchers from the University of Wyoming have developed a way to incorporate spiders' silk-spinning genes into goats, allowing the researchers to harvest the silk protein from the goats’ milk for a variety of applications. For instance, due to its strength and elasticity, spider silk fiber could have several medical uses, such as for making artificial ligaments and tendons, for eye sutures, and for jaw repair. The silk could also have applications in bulletproof vests and improved car airbags"

(3) ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION

A new status for the great apes (chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas)

UK, European Union...US CHIMP Act (2000)...Alamogordo chimpanzees

(4) WILDLIFE

E.O. Wilson's prediction--25% of species lost in 100 years, if we keep going in the same way

(5) LAW AND ACTIVISM

Cass Sunstein, Office of Management and Budget - "Can animals sue?"

****

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2011-01-12T21:16:00.001-06:00