I've been thinking about story-telling and relationships with particular animals. Consider the following two snippets: Peter Singer doesn’t love animals In the preface to the 1975 edition of Animal Liberation, Peter Singer shares a story about a time he was invited to tea. He'd begun working on Animal Liberation. Much to the surprise of his host, Singer admitted that he isn't an animal lover (p. 9). Singer came to his theory of animal liberation through rational argument, not a relationship … [Read more...]
Human rights and the family
When people describe their workplace or community group as if they're "like family," my neck hair rises. I am suspicious, and immediately skeptical about the stability of the organization being described. If I were a Kelpien, my threat ganglia would extend whenever someone made this kind of reference. Let me be clear: I am not anti-family. I love families! Yay families! I'm just skeptical that family structures are good models for social or political groups to adopt. Arendt's critique of … [Read more...]
Lingering indigestion from my course on animal ethics
Puppies, Pigs, and the Polis had it's final class meeting (along with a special vegan brunch) last week. This course examined how animal ethicists use feminist relational theory, which usually refers to views that are grounded in the claim that people are constituted in and through relationships. The course aimed to spark our imaginations about how to build better worlds with and for nonhuman animals. I was game to keep meeting each week, but the semester must come to an end! The … [Read more...]
Puppies, pigs, and the polis: Feminist relational theory and animal ethics
I've written before about my admiration for and struggles with some of Donna Haraway's work in animal philosophy, and about how helpful I find relational theory. After working through When Species Meet, I decided to teach a philosophy seminar on how relational theory has informed animal ethics! The course revolves around When Species Meet and Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka's 2011 book, Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights. Although these texts represent different philosophical … [Read more...]
Can Haraway’s vegan meet animals responsibly?
Recently I finished Donna Haraway's When Species Meet (University of Minnesota Press, 2008). This post isn't about how great the book is. It's really, really great. This post is about my frustration with Haraway's descriptions of veganism, specifically vegan views about abolitionism, or abolishing entirely our use of animals. Why I read this book Like many feminists, I think abstract, universal moral claims usually miss the mark. Except when it comes to animal ethics. On issues such as … [Read more...]