Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Powerful Particulars As “Autodocuments” In Documentality, Ronald E. Day

Proceedings from the Document Academy

The purpose of this short paper is to sketch the problem of whether documentality, in the sense of the appearance of evidence, must always take the form of a type-token relationship. In contrast to a type-token epistemology common in the Library and Information Science tradition, the paper argues that there is precedence for a theory of documentality that views evidentiality as a product of the powers of particulars to make themselves present. To make this argument, it appeals to Robert Pagès theory of documents and, over a half century later, Bernd Frohmann’s proposal for a philosophy of information, “Documentality.” Such …

The Mouse Colony, Katerina Tsiopos

Animal Studies Journal

The Mouse Colony

Can Animals Contract?, John Enman-Beech

Animal Studies Journal

Animals are, or are like persons, and so should not be treated as mere property. But persons are not just non-property; they are contractors. They interact with property and with other persons. This article analyses the possibilities for a range of animals to fit within market liberal society as contractors from a legal disciplinary perspective. Some animals are capable of contract-like relationships of reciprocal exchange, and can consent, in a certain sense, to parts of such relationships. However, the dangers of the contractual frame, which is used to legitimate exploitation, may exceed the benefits. Some scholars have begun to explore …

The Nature Of Persons And Our Ethical Relations With Nonhuman Animals, Jeremy Barris

Humanities Faculty Research

If we accept that at least some kinds of nonhuman animals are persons, a variety of paradoxes emerge in our ethical relations with them, involving apparently unavoidable disrespect of their personhood. We aim to show that these paradoxes are legitimate but can be illuminatingly resolved in the light of an adequate understanding of the nature of persons. Drawing on recent Western, Daoist, and Zen Buddhist thought, we argue that personhood is already paradoxical in the same way as these aspects of our ethical relations with nonhuman animals, and in fact is the source of their paradoxical character. In both contexts, …

Mutual Rescue: Disabled Animals And Their Caretakers, Lynda Birke, Lori Gruen

Animal Studies Journal

In this paper, we explore how caretakers experience living with disabled companion animals. Drawing on interviews, as well as narratives on websites and other support groups, we examine ways in which caretakers describe the lives of animals they live with, and their various disabilties. The animals were mostly dogs, plus a few cats, with a range of physical disabilities; almost all had been rehomed, often from places specializing in homing disabled animals.

Three themes emerged from analysis of these texts: first, respondents drew heavily on the common narrative of disabled individuals as heroes, often noted in disability rights literature – …

Empathy, Animals, And Deadly Vices, Kathie Jenni

Animal Studies Journal

In Deadly Vices, Gabriele Taylor provides a secular analysis of vices which in Christian theology were thought to bring death to the soul: sloth, envy, avarice, pride, anger, lust, and gluttony. She argues that these vices are appropriately singled out and grouped together in that ‘they are destructive of the self and prevent its flourishing’. Using a related approach, I offer a secular analysis of gluttony and cowardice, examining their roles in common failures to empathise with animals. I argue that these vices constitute serious moral failings, for they enable continuing complicity in animal abuse and undermine integrity. While Taylor …

Animals In Drama And Theatrical Performance: Anthropocentric Emotionalism, Peta Tait

Animal Studies Journal

This article outlines how nonhuman animals are framed by the emotions of drama, theatre and contemporary performance and considers a distinctive tradition in western culture of enacting animal characters who function as surrogate humans. It argues that, contradictorily, while animal characters confirm anthropocentric emotionalism, drama also contains pro-animal values and concern for animal welfare. Animals embodying emotions in theatrical languages are part of the way animals are used in the traditions of western culture and to think and philosophize with, but they also indicate thinking about the emotions in theatrical performance. The article considers if, however, staging living animals can …

Tourism Operators On Trial: Pushing The Animal Justice Agenda Forward In Tourism In Spite Of Theory, David Fennell, Val Sheppard

TTRA Canada 2019 Conference

Abstract:

Justice tourism is emerging to be a topic of considerable interest as scholars strive to emphasise several important themes around the fair distribution of resources and benefits between and within societies (Mihalic & Fennell, 2014; Smith & Duffy, 2003). There is the belief that tourism must be ethical, share equity, underscore solidarity between hosts and guests, and place emphasis on respect, self-determination, as well as benefits on many different social, economic, and cultural levels (Scheyvens, 2002). An example of this type of research comes from Jamal and Camargo (2014), who discuss how limited distributive justice can be within destinations …

Post-Darwin Skepticism And Run-Of-The-Mill Suicide, John Hadley

Animal Sentience

Peña-Guzmán’s depiction of the opponent of animal suicide as a conservative is a straw man. It is possible to accept that animals are self-conscious and reflexive yet still reject the view that they have the mental wherewithal to commit run-of-the-mill suicide. That animal behaviour can be positioned on a continuum of self-destructive behaviour does not establish that animals can intentionally kill themselves.

A ‘‘Practical’’ Ethic For Animals, David Fraser

David Fraser, PhD

Drawing on the features of ‘‘practical philosophy’’ described by Toulmin (1990), a ‘‘practical’’ ethic for animals would be rooted in knowledge of how people affect animals, and would provide guidance on the diverse ethical concerns that arise. Human activities affect animals in four broad ways: (1) keeping animals, for example, on farms and as companions, (2) causing intentional harm to animals, for example through slaughter and hunting, (3) causing direct but unintended harm to animals, for example by cropping practices and vehicle collisions, and (4) harming animals indirectly by disturbing life-sustaining processes and balances of nature, for example by habitat …

Animals Aren’T Persons, But Is It Time For A Neologism?, Helen Steward

Animal Sentience

Mark Rowlands argues that at least some animals are persons, based on the idea that (i) many animals have a property he calls “pre-reflective awareness,” (ii) the capacity for pre-reflective awareness is sufficient to satisfy the traditional Lockean definition of personhood, and (iii) satisfaction of the traditional Lockean definition of personhood is sufficient for being a person. I agree with (i) and can see that there is a persuasive case for (ii), but I think the case against (iii) blocks the conclusion that animals are persons. I suggest that we may need instead to coin a neologism in order to …

Unconscious Higher-Order Thoughts (Hots) As Pre-Reflective Self-Awareness?, Rocco J. Gennaro

Animal Sentience

Rowlands argues that many nonhuman animals are “persons,” contrary to the prevailing orthodoxy which rests on a mistaken conception of the kind of self-awareness relevant to personhood. He argues that self-awareness bifurcates into two importantly different forms — reflective self-awareness and pre-reflective self-awareness — and that many animals can have the latter, which is sufficient for personhood. I agree that there is good reason to think that many animals can have pre-reflective self-awareness, but I think Rowlands is mistaken about its nature. His account runs the risk of leading to an infinite regress objection, and his notion of pre-reflective self-awareness …

Are Animals Persons?, Mark Rowlands

Animal Sentience

It is orthodox to suppose that very few, if any, nonhuman animals are persons. The category “person” is restricted to self-aware creatures: humans (above a certain age) and possibly some of the great apes and cetaceans. I argue that this orthodoxy should be rejected, because it rests on a mistaken conception of the kind of self-awareness relevant to personhood. Replacing this with a sense of self-awareness that is relevant requires us to accept that personhood is much more widely distributed through the animal kingdom.

The Intersectional Influences Of Prince: A Human-Animal Tribute, Annie K. Potts

Animal Studies Journal

Prince Rogers Nelson (1958-2016) was best known for his joyful funk music and electrifying stage performances that transgressed normative representations of gender, sexuality, race, spirituality, identity and taste. He was also a compassionate person who held deep convictions about freedom and the right of all species to enjoy lives without fear and suffering. This essay discusses Prince’s intersectional influences – the various ways his virtuosity over the past 38 years disrupted binaries, challenged assumptions and stereotypes, advocated for social justice, and combatted speciesism in its many forms. Embedded within the essay are seven personal tributes written by fans of Prince …

Killing And Feeling Bad: Animal Experimentation And Moral Stress, Mike R. King

Animal Studies Journal

This paper is prompted by the introspective account of animal experimentation provided by Marks in his paper ‘Killing Schrödinger’s Feral Cat’ in this journal. I offer an ethical interpretation of Marks' paper, and add personal reflections based on my own experiences of being involved in animal experimentation. Identifying the emotional and cognitive experiences of Marks and myself with Rollin’s concept of ‘moral stress’ I explore this effect that conducting animal experimentation can have on the people involved. I argue, based partly on personal anecdotal experience, that this stress varies depending on the organisational structure of animal experimentation, and one’s position …

Hsisp Annotated Bibliography: Attitudes Toward Animals (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

Erich Yahner, MSLIS

No abstract provided.

Hsisp Annotated Bibliography: Moral & Character Education (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

Erich Yahner

No abstract provided.

Animal Pleasure And Its Moral Significance, Jonathan Balcombe

Jonathan Balcombe, PhD

This paper presents arguments for, and evidence in support of, the important role of pleasure in animals’ lives, and outlines its considerable significance to humankind’s relationship to other animals. In the realms of animal sentience, almost all scholarly discussion revolves around its negative aspects: pain, stress, distress, and suffering. By contrast, the positive aspects of sentience – rewards and pleasures – have been rarely broached by scientists. Yet, evolutionary principles predict that animals, like humans, are motivated to seek rewards, and not merely to avoid pain and suffering. Natural selection favours behaviours that enhance survival and procreation. In the conscious, …

The Need To Include Animal Protection In Public Health Policies, Aysha Akhtar

Animal Welfare Collection

Many critical public health issues require non-traditional approaches. Although many novel strategies are used, one approach not widely applied involves improving the treatment of animals. Emerging infectious diseases are pressing public health challenges that could benefit from improving the treatment of animals. Other human health issues, that overlap with animal treatment issues, and that warrant further exploration, are medical research and domestic violence. The diverse nature of these health issues and their connection with animal treatment suggest that there may be other similar intersections. Public health would benefit by including the treatment of animals as a topic of study and …

A ‘‘Practical’’ Ethic For Animals, David Fraser

Ethics and Animal Welfare Collection

Drawing on the features of ‘‘practical philosophy’’ described by Toulmin (1990), a ‘‘practical’’ ethic for animals would be rooted in knowledge of how people affect animals, and would provide guidance on the diverse ethical concerns that arise. Human activities affect animals in four broad ways: (1) keeping animals, for example, on farms and as companions, (2) causing intentional harm to animals, for example through slaughter and hunting, (3) causing direct but unintended harm to animals, for example by cropping practices and vehicle collisions, and (4) harming animals indirectly by disturbing life-sustaining processes and balances of nature, for example by habitat …

Unnecessary Suffering: Definition And Evidence, Frank Hurnik, Hugh Lehman

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

Although it is possible to formulate stronger moral principles than "animals should not be made to suffer unnecessarily," there are significant grounds for doubting these stronger principles. But the principle that underlies the dictum regarding unnecessary suffering is generally recognized as valid, since denial of it implies that we can do whatever we want with animals, a conclusion that is usually considered unacceptable. A determination of whether any particular instance of suffering is necessary or unnecessary must be based on an analysis of both the seriousness of the purpose of the act that involves pain in animals, and its relative …