Faculty and Staff

What is the scope of moral considerability? How far does moral value extend out into the living world? To what does this kind of value obligate us? These questions lie at the heart of contemporary animal ethics, and are central to this course.
This course will introduce you to the major philosophical questions and history of ideas in animal ethics, including questions like: How do different philosophical traditions inform thinking about nonhuman animals? What are the morally- relevant differences between human animals and nonhuman others? Is it ethical to eat animals, test on them, or confine them as pets or specimens? To what extent are we morally obligated to respond to unethical laws or actions?

Ethical questions about nonhuman animals and our treatment of them are wide- ranging, asked and acted upon by scientists, ecologists, activists, journalists, policy- makers, artists, and the occasional politician. But philosophers played a formative role in setting the ground-rules of these engagements, and continue to play an important role in developing our critical thinking about animals. Building on the 20th century success of animal ethics work reflected in philosophy and social norms, we’ll take for granted that they do have moral worth and asks the more interesting philosophical questions why and under what conditions they do.

The methods of this course will help you cultivate research, writing, and critical thinking skills by:

1. understandingandidentifyingkeythemesandargumentsacrossthehistoryof

   animal ethics through original research,

2. developinganabilitytoapplyethicalreasoningskillstocontemporarycasesof

   anthropogenic climate change in discussion with colleagues, and

3. motivatingpersonalactioninsupportofthatreasoning.

Each module in this class will include engagement with and analysis of arguments across multiple philosophical traditions, class discussions, and spaces to share questions or concerns. 

As professionals and researchers, we regularly face ethical issues in our practices and planning. Contemporary ethical issues pose novel challenges of epistemic and ethical complexity and increasing speed of technological and scientific change at a global social level. Engaging ethical inquiry and decision-making is a critical component to both the contemporary research process and to professional conduct.

In this graduate-level course we will critically examine, through reasoned discussion, conceptual analysis, and critical writing, a range of theoretical approaches to ethics and how those approaches are and can be applied to a wide range of contemporary applied issues. Our approach will not assume any expert-level knowledge of ethics. Instead, the course will introduce and compare a wide range of traditional or historical ethical theories and explore various methods of pluralistic ethical decision-making. My rationale for guiding you by this perspective is that contemporary ethical issues are not the domain of solely philosophers or professional ethicists but, rather, of an extensive community of inquirers including ethicists, scientists, and policy- makers of all sorts. Our task, together in this class, is to think carefully and critically about ethical issues and to develop strategies for helping others do this same.

Participants in this course, yourself included, will:

1. build familiarity with a range of ethical theoretical perspectives,

2. cultivate moral literacy in building ethical sensitivity, applying ethical reasoning skills,

   and strengthening motivation in the application of ethical theories,

3. and acquire pedagogical skills in ethical inquiry through developing, delivering, and

   assessing presentation materials on relevant ethical issues drawn from your home disciplines and/or individual interests.

Students who participate in Phi5627 will gain experience in leading discussions about ethical issues and will be encouraged to begin to identify ways to develop peer mentoring on these important topics.