Announcements
- You will need Singer Animal Liberation Now next week, the day after Labor Day
- Note that we have no class the day before Fall Break--Oct 4
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Module 1: The Moral Status of Animals
What are we asking?
- Do we have any obligations to animals?
- Do animals count in their own right?
- Are there any limits on how we may treat animals?
- What's their place in the grand scheme of things?
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| Can we use animals as food? |
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| Can we use animals for labor? |
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| Can we make them into clothing? (this is a beaver hat) |
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We will cover Aristotle to the present (7 views)
- Ancient times: Aristotle (4th century BCE), the bible (hard to date)
- 19th century: Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham
- 20th century to present: Peter Singer, Tom Regan, Peter Carruthers
Aristotle vs. bible
- Aristotle: trying to persuade with arguments
- Bible: relates history of humanity and God
RR1--which reading puts animals on a lower plane? We'll come to that...
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Who puts animals on a lower plane? Most said Aristotle
Ancient views: Aristotle and Bible
- Hierarchy--humans superior, humans may rule over animals
Ideas just in bible
- "And God saw that it was good"--so animals good intrinsically
- Reservations about using animals as food, restrictions (don't eat blood)
- Vision of the peaceable kingdom (Isaiah)
- God makes covenant with humans and all creatures
Ideas just in Aristotle
- Cares about whether labor is better for the animal too
- Compares animals to slaves, women (a point made in some RRs)
- Animals exist to be our food (like milk exists to feed baby mammals)