AGENDA
- Module 4: relational animal ethics
- Lori Gruen, Entangled Empathy chapter 1 (last post)
- What is entangled empathy?
What is relational animal ethics?
- Individualistic animal ethics - we owe moral consideration to animals on the basis of each individual animal's internal features
- PETER SINGER - we owe moral consideration based on each individual animal's sentience and interests - we should use utilitarianism to figure out what exactly we owe
- TOM REGAN - we owe moral consideration based on each each individual's being a "subject of a life" and therefore having inherent value and basic rights
- Relational animal ethics - relationships are central to understanding our obligations to animals
- LORI GRUEN -
- we should relate to animals with entangled empathy to understand our obligations
- we should be attentive to animals' relationships to each other
- CLARE PALMER, SUE DONALDSON & WILL KYMLICKA
- we have different duties to animals in different categories, which are defined by human-animal relationships
- Palmer: domesticated vs. wild
- Donaldson & Kymlilcka: domesticated vs. liminal vs. wild
Gruen recap: the problems with contemporary ethics
- Too abstract
- Doesn't recognize complexities of experiences
- Doesn't recognize context, history of problem
- A robot could figure out obligations, calculated this way
- Detached, alienating, not motivating
- Ignores the network of relationships
Problems with animal ethics
Entangled empathy approach
3:46 - 5:10
Approach will involve (see p. 20)
- Abstraction vs. context
- Individualism vs. relationality
- Impartiality vs. connection
- Conflict vs. responsiveness
Applications
- Saving cat during Hurricane Ian
- EMMA - getting to know her - learning more about chimpanzees - becoming "attuned" - coming to care about chimpanzees in animal labs - rejoicing when they are transferred to a sanctuary - caring about orangutans in Indonesia and Malaysia - learning that forests are being destroyed to make room for palm oil plantations - realizing palm oil is in many vegan products - finding the products repulsive and not using them.
- Is she especially concerned with "higher animals"? No! Her recent book Animal Crisis (written with Alice Cleary) has chapters on pigs, rats, insects, octopuses, etc.