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Articles 121 - 150 of 942

Full-Text Articles in Philosophy

Egalitarianism And Animals, Oscar Horta Nov 2014

Egalitarianism And Animals, Oscar Horta

Between the Species

The moral consideration of nonhuman animals and the critique of speciesism have been defended by appeal to a variety of ethical theories. One of the main approaches in moral and political philosophy today from which to launch such a defense is egalitarianism, which is the view that we should aim at favoring the worse off by reducing inequality. This paper explains what egalitarianism is and shows the important practical consequences it has for nonhuman animals, both those that are exploited by humans and those in need of aid in the wild. Egalitarianism implies rejecting speciesism, and in practice it prescribes …


Why We Should Stop Creating Pets With Lives Worth Living, Chelsea Haramia Jul 2014

Why We Should Stop Creating Pets With Lives Worth Living, Chelsea Haramia

Between the Species

Pedigreed breeding often leads to severe health problems for, say, those dogs who exist as a result of the practice. It is also the case that virtually all of those unhealthy animals would not exist at all if it were not for the practice of pedigreed breeding. If those animals have lives worth living, then it follows that they are not harmed by the practice—assuming that a life worth living is better than no life at all. It would seem, then, that the standard account of harm cannot account for the wrongness of our intentionally creating pets with lower welfare. …


King Of The Meat Eaters, Anonymous Jul 2014

King Of The Meat Eaters, Anonymous

Between the Species

This article is a word for word reproduction of an unexpected resignation speech. It was given as—or rather, in place of—the presidential address of a recent annual meeting of ISEA (the International Society for the Eating of Animals). Because this is a secret society, the speaker’s and the transcriber’s names have been omitted. Those of us who were there for this speech will remember the anger and outrage that it provoked. Many of us still cannot believe the ridiculous spin-off resignations that this underwhelming speech somehow managed to provoke. This speech is reprinted here (where it cannot be returned to …


Review Of Animal Rights Without Liberation: Applied Ethics And Human Obligations, Mark Suchyta Jun 2014

Review Of Animal Rights Without Liberation: Applied Ethics And Human Obligations, Mark Suchyta

Between the Species

This submission is a book review for Alasdair Cochrane's Animal Rights Without Liberation: Applied Ethics and Human Obligations


Merging The Principles Of Occultism And Anarchism, Kevin Todd Mclaren Jun 2014

Merging The Principles Of Occultism And Anarchism, Kevin Todd Mclaren

History

"Merging the Principles of Occultism and Anarchism" is an attempt to pinpoint the correlations between occult and/or esoteric belief systems and political anarchist philosophy. The paper analyzes the works, belief systems and philosophies of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and Aleister Crowley and extracts the underlying anarchist principles that are embedded within them. This established connection to anarchism through occultism is reinforced by referencing various anarchist works, particularly the works of William Godwin.


Review Of Science And Ethics, Gregory L. Bock Jan 2014

Review Of Science And Ethics, Gregory L. Bock

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Cinema In The Digital Age: A Rebuttal To Lev Manovich, Barbara Cail Dec 2013

Cinema In The Digital Age: A Rebuttal To Lev Manovich, Barbara Cail

Philosophy

In his book The Language of New Media, Lev Manovich claims the index is an ontological condition of cinema. Manovich asserts digital cinema can never be indexical and therefore has fundamentally altered the very nature of cinema, reducing it to a form of animation. This paper offers a refutation of Manovich’s redefinition of cinema, showing that digital cinema can be indexical, but indexicality is not an ontological condition of cinema.


Measuring The Counter/Assumption Model's Effect On Argumentation Quality, Evan D G Ovadia Dec 2013

Measuring The Counter/Assumption Model's Effect On Argumentation Quality, Evan D G Ovadia

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a new platform called See the Reason, built upon a tree- structured argumentation model called the Counter/Assumption model. In the Counter/Assumption model, a topic is posted first, then under that topic, reasons for and against, and for each reason, counterarguments, and for any counterargu- ment, more counterarguments. The model enables us to systematically determine whether a claim is “tentatively true” or “tentatively false,” in an effort to motivate people to make their side’s claims tentatively true and the opposing side’s claims tentatively false, thus encouraging conflict. Research suggests that debates with more conflict are better, so this …


Pedagogical Development Of Zen Buddhism And Taoism For Taos Ed. Ventures, Kelsey Tyler Dec 2013

Pedagogical Development Of Zen Buddhism And Taoism For Taos Ed. Ventures, Kelsey Tyler

Social Sciences

Taos Ed. Ventures is an outdoor guiding company that will be offering backpacking trips in Taos, New Mexico to high school and college students, with ages ranging from 16 – 29, starting the summer of 2015. Along with backpacking skills, the philosophies of Zen Buddhism and Taoism will be taught while on the trail. To teach these philosophies, a pedagogy was created, combining aspects of Sentipensante and Contemplative pedagogies that seeks to teach the daily applications of Zen Buddhism and Taoism through experiential and innovative learning methods, such as journaling, meditation, and mindfulness practices. The benefits of these alternative learning …


Decentering Anthropocentrisms: A Functional Approach To Animal Minds, Matthew C. Altman Nov 2013

Decentering Anthropocentrisms: A Functional Approach To Animal Minds, Matthew C. Altman

Between the Species

Anthropocentric biases manifest themselves in two different ways in research on animal cognition. Some researchers claim that only humans have the capacity for reasoning, beliefs, and interests; and others attribute mental concepts to nonhuman animals on the basis of behavioral evidence, and they conceive of animal cognition in more or less human terms. Both approaches overlook the fact that language-use deeply informs mental states, such that comparing human mental states to the mental states of nonlinguistic animals is misguided. In order to avoid both pitfalls -- assuming that animals have mental lives just like we do, or assuming that they …


The Animal Question In Deconstruction, Rafe Mcgregor Oct 2013

The Animal Question In Deconstruction, Rafe Mcgregor

Between the Species

Review of The Animal Question in Deconstruction, edited by Lynn Turner (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2013)


Recognizing Nonhuman Morality, Simon J. Coghlan Sep 2013

Recognizing Nonhuman Morality, Simon J. Coghlan

Between the Species

Claims that some sorts of genuine moral behavior exist in nonhuman beings are increasingly common. Many people, however, remain unconvinced, despite growing acceptance of the remarkable behavioral complexity of animals and despite the admission that there may be significant differences between human and nonhuman moral behavior. This paper argues that the rejection of “moral animals” is misplaced. Yet at the same time, it attempts to show how the philosophical task of exhibiting the possibility of nonhuman moral behavior is often misguided, leaving claims about nonhuman morality unnecessarily exposed to philosophical rejection.


An Interview With Sue Donaldson And Will Kymlicka, Angus Taylor Jul 2013

An Interview With Sue Donaldson And Will Kymlicka, Angus Taylor

Between the Species

Angus Taylor interviews Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka, authors of Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights (Oxford University Press, 2011).


Letter To The Editor: The Function Of Animal Ethics Committee, David G. Allen, Rebecca Halligan Jul 2013

Letter To The Editor: The Function Of Animal Ethics Committee, David G. Allen, Rebecca Halligan

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Review Of Hunting: In Search Of The Wild Life, Nathan Kowalsky (Ed.), Regina Swanson Jul 2013

Review Of Hunting: In Search Of The Wild Life, Nathan Kowalsky (Ed.), Regina Swanson

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Letter To The Editor: Animal Ethics Committees - Reassurances Rejected, Denise Russell Jul 2013

Letter To The Editor: Animal Ethics Committees - Reassurances Rejected, Denise Russell

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Introduction To Special Issue 16(1), John Nolt Jul 2013

Introduction To Special Issue 16(1), John Nolt

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Book Review Of This Is Not Sufficient, Frank Garrett Jun 2013

Book Review Of This Is Not Sufficient, Frank Garrett

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Review Of Kemmerer, Animals And World Religions, Sidney Blankenship Ma May 2013

Review Of Kemmerer, Animals And World Religions, Sidney Blankenship Ma

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Ralph Waldo Emerson: From Buddhism To Transcendentalism, The Beginning Of An American Literary Tradition, Irene Jue May 2013

Ralph Waldo Emerson: From Buddhism To Transcendentalism, The Beginning Of An American Literary Tradition, Irene Jue

English

No abstract provided.


Nonhuman Animals: Not Necessarily Saints Or Sinners, Cheryl E. Abbate Apr 2013

Nonhuman Animals: Not Necessarily Saints Or Sinners, Cheryl E. Abbate

Between the Species

Higher-order thought theories maintain that consciousness involves the having of higher-order thoughts about mental states. In response to these theories of consciousness, an attempt is often made to illustrate that nonhuman animals possess said consciousness, overlooking an alarming consequence: attributing higher-order thought to nonhuman animals might entail that they should be held morally accountable for their actions. I argue that moral responsibility requires more than higher-order thought: moral agency requires a specific higher-order thought which concerns a belief about the rightness or wrongness of affecting another’s mental states. This “moral thought” about the rightness or wrongness is not yet demonstrated …


Evidence Of Sexism And Male Privilege In The Animal Liberation/Rights Movement, Lisa Kemmerer Apr 2013

Evidence Of Sexism And Male Privilege In The Animal Liberation/Rights Movement, Lisa Kemmerer

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Good Eats, Elizabeth Foreman Feb 2013

Good Eats, Elizabeth Foreman

Between the Species

If one believes that vegetarianism is morally obligatory, there are numerous ways to argue for that conclusion. In this paper, classic utilitarian and rights-based attempts to ground this obligation are considered, as well as Cora Diamond’s reframing of the debate in terms of the proper way to view other animals. After discussion of these three ways to ground the obligation and their problems, an attitude-based approach inspired by Diamond’s view (though different from it in important ways) is advanced. It is argued that such a view, by focusing moral attention on the attitudes of agents as opposed to the actions …


The Moral Patient, The Honorable Fiduciary, And A Faltering Liberalism: An Exploration Of Professor Bryant's Call To Animal Respect, Iris J. Goodwin Jan 2013

The Moral Patient, The Honorable Fiduciary, And A Faltering Liberalism: An Exploration Of Professor Bryant's Call To Animal Respect, Iris J. Goodwin

Between the Species

Professor Bryant’s article – which seeks to discover whether aspects of an anticruelty statute can be based directly on a call to virtuous conduct – is a provocative piece of scholarship that harbors a much larger question: Can a general principle mandating full respect for animals be developed out of the moral methodology inhering in virtue ethics? Insights garnered in this rejoinder are meant to stand alongside those in Professor Bryant’s article to lend deep moral grounding to animal-respect as well as provide intimations of the way virtue ethics as a moral methodology might yield determinate answers to moral questions. …


Shared Responsibility In A Multispecies Playground, Marcus Baynes-Rock Jan 2013

Shared Responsibility In A Multispecies Playground, Marcus Baynes-Rock

Between the Species

While conducting research on urbanised hyenas in Harar, Ethiopia, I was approached by a young hyena named Willi. In contrast to other hyenas, who tolerated my presence but otherwise had little interest in me, Willi insisted on some kind of engagement. Through biting, chase play, combing, following and standing by one other, Willi and I went beyond our species limitations and created an improvised intersubjectivity based on a will to understand. However, our friendship led to some harmful consequences for which I felt responsible. This led me to question the ethics of engagement with non-humans: if unforeseen harms can result …


Review Of Gary E. Varner's Personhood, Ethics, And Animal Cognition: Situating Animals In Hare’S Two-Level Utilitarianism, Tal Scriven Dec 2012

Review Of Gary E. Varner's Personhood, Ethics, And Animal Cognition: Situating Animals In Hare’S Two-Level Utilitarianism, Tal Scriven

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


Virtue Ethics And Animal Law, Taimie Bryant Dec 2012

Virtue Ethics And Animal Law, Taimie Bryant

Between the Species

This essay explores virtue ethical concepts in the context of animal law theory and practice. For reasons discussed in the essay, virtue ethics may not, on its own, serve as an adequate foundation for general anticruelty statutes, but it may have application in those contexts in which sufficient sharing of values enables participants in legal reform to work through differences in moral commitments to generate at least temporarily acceptable laws. The article considers a detailed example of that type of application, based on the actual and realistic situation of legislator-requested feral cat colony caretakers’ participation in the development of ordinances …


A Comprehensive Study Of Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, And Comparison, Per Maximilian Gasseholm Dec 2012

A Comprehensive Study Of Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, And Comparison, Per Maximilian Gasseholm

Social Sciences

Today complimentary medicine is being increasingly sought out. Ayurveda and TCM, are among the oldest systems of medicine and have been developed for over thousands of years in India and China respectively. This paper details the philosophies, medical theories, anatomy, diagnosis, and treatments of both of these systems, including a comparison. Both of these modalities of healing operate with a microcosm – macrocosm paradigm. This makes them fundamentally similar, and compatible with each other. Ayurveda uses Tridoshic theory to apply treatments ranging from diet, massage, meditation, yoga among other therapies to bring Vata, Pitta, and Kapha into balance. TCM is …


Introduction To Special Issue, Vol. 15, Issue 1, Jane Johnson Sep 2012

Introduction To Special Issue, Vol. 15, Issue 1, Jane Johnson

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


What The Wild Things Are: A Critique On Clare Palmer’S “What (If Anything) Do We Owe Wild Animals?”, Joel P. Macclellan Sep 2012

What The Wild Things Are: A Critique On Clare Palmer’S “What (If Anything) Do We Owe Wild Animals?”, Joel P. Macclellan

Between the Species

In this critique of “Clare Palmer’s “What (if anything) do we owe wild animals?”, I develop three points. First, I consider the case study which opens her essay and argue that that there are good empirical reasons to think that we should assist domesticated horses and not wild deer. Then, I critique Palmer’s claim that “wildness is not a capacity”, arguing that wildness connotes certain capacities which wild animals generally have and which domesticated animals generally lack. Lastly, I develop what I call the “supererogation problem” against Palmer’s preferred contextualist view, claiming that while the contextualist view doesn’t obligate us …