Animals & Society Institute
Animal Ethics – REL 960 / F&ES 647aYale Divinity School, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and the Yale Department of Religious StudiesFall 2016Matthew T. Riley – Instructor – matthew.riley@yale.eduTuesdays, 8:30am-10:20am. Location: Yale Divinity School (room to be determined).Office Hours: by appointmentCourse Description: What are animals and what are our ethical responsibilities to them? This course introduces students to the major ethical questions in animal ethics and explores a variety of philosophical and religious ways of framing human-animal relationships: Is it ethical to eat animals, experiment upon them, or to keep them in zoos or as pets? Do animals have rights? What does the Bible say about animals and what does the Christian tradition teach us about compassion and mercy towards animals? Do all dogs go to heaven? How does animal ethics challenge and expand traditional models of religious ethics? Students will engage with and compare a wide range of questions and insights from animal ethics, animal studies, animal science, art and culture, and environmental philosophy to understand human relationships to animals. We will also examine how religious traditions, most notably Christianity, transmit and inform contemporary views and ethical frameworks that guide our treatment of other living things. In light of this, the course is organized around three basic categories that pose ethical challenges in animal ethics: Problems of knowledge: Since animals communicate and live their lives in ways that are difficult for us to understand, our ability to decipher the intellectual, emotional, and social capacities of animals is inherently limited. This limitation poses problems for ethical decision making in that our understandings of animals are always “constructed” in some way. Science and religion, as ways of knowing animals and constructing views towards them, are therefore central concerns for animal ethics. Problems of experience: Human relationships with animals are informed by personal experience and filtered through religion and culture. Moreover, encounters with animals (both “real” animals and symbolic, mythic, and imagined animals) have long played a central role in religious experience. Ethical possibilities with other animals are therefore complexified by the extraordinary diversity and richness of personal and religious experience and interpretation. Problems of practice: Contemporary science and technology grants humans a great deal of power and control over animal lives. Ethical relationships to animals are therefore illuminated and shaded by considerations of justice, dynamics of power, and ideology. No prior experience in ethics is required. To enhance learning, students in this course will have face-to-face encounters with real animals, multiple guest speakers will visit the class to share their work, and students will also engage in active learning through art at the Yale University Art Gallery. Students in this course are encouraged to be exploratory, critical, and creative in their thinking. Objectives: Students who complete this course will: Understand the historical emergence and development of animal ethics. Become conversant in, and learn to utilize, the fundamental methodologies of animal ethics as read through the lenses of religious ethics and secular ethical theory.Be able to assess the effectiveness of applied, pragmatic approaches to animal ethics and to think critically about the successes, or failures, of on-the-ground attempts to apply ethics to action. Think, speak, and write critically about animal ethics. Course Format: This course is offered to students including, but not limited to, students in the Yale Divinity School, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the Yale Department of Religious Studies, and students in Environmental Studies. Class meetings will typically consist of a short lecture by the instructor followed by class discussion and reflection. It meets once per week and is worth three credits. Course Requirements and Grading: Students are expected to complete the following:15-20 page Research Paper. (55% of final grade). Animal Experiences and Reflection. (15% of final grade).Reading of books and articles as demonstrated through Film Responses. (15% of final grade). Reading of books and articles as demonstrated through active participation in class discussions. (15% of final grade).Grading RubricH95-100%Work receiving a grade of “Honors” is exemplary scholarship which features clear writing, expression of nuanced arguments and insights, and has the originality and structure expected in publication quality work. This is work that uses an effective rhetorical structure nearing professional level writing and it is coherent and enjoyable to read from beginning to end. Honors work will have negligible issues with grammar and formatting.H-90-94%Work receiving a grade of “Honors Minus” indicates outstanding work in the form of quality writing, well-considered arguments and insights, and which also shows a depth of thought and originality that nears that of publication quality work. Honors Minus work will often have minimal issues with grammar and formatting.HP+87-89%Work receiving a grade of “Honors Pass Plus” indicates acceptable work which may include the following attributes: Clear but somewhat disorganized writing, arguments and insights that are cogent but which need further refinement, and a level of thought that is more descriptive than critical. Honors Pass Plus work will often have some issues with grammar and formatting.HP84-86%Work receiving a grade of “Honors Pass” indicates acceptable work which should include many, but not all, of the following attributes: Clear but somewhat disorganized writing, arguments and insights that are cogent but which need further refinement, and a level of thought that is more descriptive than critical. Honors Pass work will often have some issues with grammar and formatting.HP-80-83%Work receiving a grade of “Honors Pass Minus” indicates work which shows clear effort and intent to complete the assignment, but which may feature several of the following: Disorganized writing, an argument which conflicts itself or which is purely descriptive in nature, a misunderstanding of source materials, or it will have significant issues with grammar and formatting. P70-79%Work receiving a grade of “Pass” indicates work that was turned in, but which minimally adheres to the standards of academic writing and critical thought. F0Passing credit cannot be given for this work. WWithdrawalStudent withdrew from course.Animal Experiences and Reflection: Animals are often absent from consideration in ethical decision-making. While “real” animals are featured in the readings and films assigned for this course, firsthand encounters with animals can shape how we think about them in surprising and deep ways. Your assignment, then, is to have at least one interaction with an animal (or animals) during the semester and to write a short reflection paper that describes your experience and links it to the appropriate readings and concepts from this course. Reflection papers should be approximately 1,000 words in length and are due November 18th (via email in the form of a Word document, 12 pt. font, double spaced, etc). You are encouraged to engage with animals in meaningful ways that are appropriate to this course. While experiences will vary greatly, and we can discuss alternatives in class, please refer to the following list for ideas: Visit a local animal shelter or rescue operation. Spend time on a local farm where animals are raised for food.Go to a zoo or aquarium. Spend time outdoors observing wildlife.Film Responses: Each student is responsible to watch two films outside of class and to post a short (~800 words) response to those films in the online discussion forum (Canvas). The first post is due October 4th and the second is due November 1st. Your task is not to summarize the film, but rather to discuss it in relationship to the ethical theories presented in this class. Your posts should reference the readings closely, examine and assess the ethical frameworks discussed in those readings as they apply to the film, and discuss the ways in which the film challenges or expands upon those ethical concepts or frameworks. You should also offer some critique of the film, for example assessing its distortion of morally relevant facts or inconsistencies in the ethic that it presents. In addition to your own posts, each student is also required to respond to the posts of at least two other students after completing each of your own responses by providing additional insights based on the readings and asking critical questions that engage with a particular mode of ethical thought. Responses are due two days after posting (Oct. 6th and Nov. 3rd). Students must have instructor approval before choosing a film or choose one of the following: Baraka, directed by Ron Fricke.The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos.My Neighbor Totoro, directed by Hayao Miyazaki. More Than Honey, directed by Markus Imhoof.Peaceable Kingdom, directed by Jenny Stein. Zootopia, Disney. Cave of Forgotten Dreams, directed by Werner Herzog. Forks Over Knives, directed by Lee Fulkerson. Earthlings, directed by Shaun Monson. The Elephant in the Living Room, directed by Michael Webber. Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The Ghosts in Our Machine, directed by Liz Marshall. Eating Mercifully, by The Humane Society of the United States. Research Paper: Each student is required to write a research paper on the topic of their choosing (with instructor approval). Like the reading responses, your task is to engage with a particular way of thinking about animal ethics. You may organize your paper around a particular animal ethics issue or ethical framework, but the main task of your paper is report on a particular way of thinking about animal ethics, to critically examine it, and to draw it into conversation with the broader ethical theories presented in this course. Papers should be in the form of a Word document, use 12pt. font, be double spaced, have 1-inch margins, be 15-20 pages in length, and should also have a works cited list in addition to the paper. Additional instructions will be provided in class. The paper is due December 9th (rough draft due December 5th). Classroom Culture, Participation, and Academic Integrity: This course is intended to be an intellectually challenging opportunity for personal growth and development. Since this is a shared learning environment, participants in this course are expected to be respectful of others. This includes actively listening to one another, being respectful of the time and ideas of your classmates, and entering into the classroom with a desire to engage and learn in a collaborative fashion. Students participating in this course must adhere to the standards of academic integrity. If you have any questions regarding plagiarism, please consult the YDS Bulletin for guidelines regarding plagiarism and citing sources. When in doubt, consult the instructor of this course. Absences and Late Work: Students are expected to attend classes and to turn work in on time. In the case of emergencies and extenuating circumstances, extensions may only be given with prior consent from the instructor. Late papers will have a portion of the final grade for that assignment deducted for each day that it is late (for example, an “H” paper that is one day late will receive a mark of “H-” and an “H” paper that is two days late will receive a mark of “HP+”). Special Accommodations: Students with documented learning challenges, health conditions, or who are non-native speakers of English should meet with the instructor at the beginning of the semester. Students should also contact, and work with, the appropriate resources available to them on campus to aid in their learning. Your learning is important and I will make every reasonable effort to facilitate your success in this course. For more information, please consult the Student Handbook and the YDS website.Required Texts: The following books can be purchased at the YDS Student Book Supply or via an online bookseller. Additional readings, such as articles, will be provided on Canvas.Paul Waldau and Kimberley Patton. Editors. 2006. A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics. New York: Columbia University Press. Jonathan Safran Foer. 2009. Eating Animals. New York: Bay Back Books.Susan Armstrong and Richard G. Botzler, Editors. 2008. The Animal Ethics Reader, 2nd edition. New York: Routledge.Andrew Linzey and Tom Regan, Editors. 2007. Animals and Christianity: A Book of Readings. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock. Course Schedule:Sept. 6 – Why Study Animals? Disciplines and Directions part 1 of 2 – Animal Ethics and Animal Studies.Discussion Questions: What is an animal? What are the fields of study known as animal ethics and animal studies and what are their methodologies and theoretical perspectives? How does language impact our thinking and are terms like “animal,” “nonhumans,” “animal others,” and “other-than-human animals” interchangeable? How are ethical relationships between humans and animals shaped by culture, time, philosophy, ethics, and religion? Who is a “person” and what does it mean to be “human?” In what ways does animal ethics expand or reconfigure traditional philosophical ethics? Readings:Susan Armstrong and Richard Botzler, “Animal Ethics: A Sketch of How it Developed and Where it is Now,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 1-13.John Berger, “Why Look at Animals?” 3-28. Aaron Gross, “Animal Others and Animal Studies,” in Animals and the Human Imagination, 1-24. Margo DeMello, Animals and Society, 1-31.Lori Gruen, Ethics and Animals, xiii-xvi.Jacques Derrida, “The Animal that Therefore I Am,” selections.Sept. 13 – Why Study Animals? Disciplines and Directions part 2 of 2 – Animals and the Study of Religion: Definitions of Religion, Symbols, Totems, Sacrifice, and Myths.Discussion Questions: Are animals essential to the religious experience? How have depictions and understandings of animals in religion changed historically? In what ways are animals central to, rather than separate from, the religious experiences of many human beings? How do we distinguish between purely symbolic representations of animals in religion and references to “real” animals? Can animals be said to have souls? Can animals be religious actors? Why or why not? How might religious ethical perspectives differ from, enhance, or critique secular forms of animal ethics? Readings:Claude Lévi-Strauss, Totemism, selections. Paul Waldau and Kimberley Patton, “Introduction,” in Communion of Subjects, 11-23.Kimberley Patton, “Traditional Views of Animals in Religion,” in Communion of Subjects, 27-39.Paul Waldau, “Seeing the Terrain We Walk: Features of the Contemporary Landscape of ‘Religion and Animals,’” in Communion of Subjects, 40-61. Steven Wise, “Animal Law and Animal Sacrifice: Analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Santeria Animal Sacrifice in Hialeah,” in Communion of Subjects, 585-587.Riley, “A Spiritual Democracy of All God’s Creatures,” online, pp. 241-260.Thomas Berry, “Loneliness and Presence,” in Communion of Subjects, 5-10.Selections from Aquinas, Calvin, Augustine, Irenaeus, Tillich, and Lewis, in Animals and Christianity, 17-22, 87, 91-92, 106-109, and 124-126.Sept. 20 – Being Animal: The Intelligence, Emotions, and Social Lives of Animals and What Animals can Teach us about Ethics. Discussion Questions: What do we know about animals and how do we know it? What is animal ethology? How have developments in the science of animal cognition changed over time and how are new developments challenging traditional views of animal subjectivity and experience? What do we know about intelligence and emotions in animals and how does this inform utilitarian values? Which animals are social creatures and why does this matter for ethics? Readings:Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, selections. Jane Goodall, “The Dance of Awe,” in Communion of Subjects, 651-656.Marc Bekoff, “Wild Justice, Social Cognition, Fairness, and Morality,” in Communion of Subjects, 461-480. R. G. Frey, “Utilitarianism and Animals,” in The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, 172-197.M. Mendi and E. S. Paul, “Consciousness, Emotion and Animal Welfare: Insights From Cognitive Science,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 71-83.Graham Harvey, Animism, xi-xix and 99-114.Bonaventure, “The Life of St. Francis,” in Animals and Christianity, 28-33.Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, G.W.F. Hegel, and Aristotle in Animal Rights: A Historical Anthology, 17-20, 32-33, 39-41, and 56-58.Selections from the Bible, “On Afterlife and Cosmic Redemption,” in Animals and Christianity, 85-86.Recommended Readings:Donovan Schaeffer, “Do Animals Have Religion?” 173-189. Juan Carlos Gómez, “Are Apes Persons?” 169-174.Guest Speaker:Laurie Santos - Director of the Canine Cognition Center at ic: “Comparative Cognition Research at Yale: Understanding the Inner Lives of Dogs.”Sept. 27 – Animal RightsDiscussion Questions: Can animals have rights? What basic moral obligations do we have towards animals if we use rights theory to talk about animal ethics? How might animal rights activism function in religious terms? Are nonhuman animals persons? What ethical status can be applied to non-persons? Why aren’t animals considered to be legal persons in US law and what ethic is used to support that claim? Is it an ethically robust argument? Readings:Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, selections.Tom Regan, “The Case for Animal Rights,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 19-25.Wesley V. Jamison et al., “Every Sparrow that Falls: Understanding Animal Rights Activism as Functional Religion,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 609-614.Immanuel Kant, “Rational Beings Alone Have Moral Worth,” 45-46.René Descartes, “Animals are Machines,” in Christianity and Animals, 45-51. Richard A. Epstein, “The Dangerous Claims of the Animal Rights Movement,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 601-604. Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls, in Animal Rights: A Historical Anthology, 112-115, 119-123, 135-140, and 154-155.Selections from the Bible, “On the Pains and Status of Animals” and “On the Right Treatment of Animals,” in Christianity and Animals, 42-44 and 116-118. Recommended Readings:Sarah Chan and John Harris, “Human Animals and Nonhuman Persons,” in The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, 304-331.Multimedia:Tom Regan, “Animal Rights,” parts 1-5, Speaker: Joel Marks, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of New Haven. Topic: “Animal Welfare vs. Animal Rights in Theory and Practice.” Oct. 4 – Animals and Food, part 1 of 2: The Ethics of Eating Animals, Animal Agriculture, and Hunting.Discussion Questions: Is eating meat morally permissible? Why? How does a utilitarian ethic treat eating animals and how does that compare to a religious ethic that recognizes intrinsic value in animals? What does virtue ethics have to say about eating animals and being improving moral character? How do animal ethics inform decisions of animal agriculture in the production and slaughter of animals? What is the “least harm principle” and is it a convincing ethical model in practice? How can hunting enhance biodiversity and why would that matter for animal ethics? What does the Bible tell us about the ethics of eating and hunting animals?Readings:Temple Grandin, “Thinking Like Animals,” 225-227.David Fraser, “Caring for Farm Animals: Pastoralist Ideals in an Industrialized World,” in Communion of Subjects, 547-555.George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant,” 3-9.Steven L. Davis, “The Least Harm Principle May Require that Humans Consume a Diet Containing Large Herbivores, not a Vegan Diet,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 243-247.Aldo Leopold, “Game and Wildlife Conservation [1932],” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 451-453. Bishops in Northern Canada, “In Defense of Fur Trapping,” in Christianity and Animals, 167-169.Selections from the Bible, “On Animal Sacrifices and Killing for Food,” in Christianity and Animals, 152-155.Karl Barth, “Justifiable Killing,” in Christianity and Animals, 191-193.John Calvin, “The Tyranny of Vegetarianism,” in Christianity and Animals, 199-200.Recommended Readings: Joel Novek, “Discipline and Distancing: Confined Pigs in the Factory Farm Gulag,” in Animals and the Human Imagination, 121-151. Paul Shepard, Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game and Coming Home to the Pleistocene.Guest Speaker:Stephen Latham, Director – Yale Interdisciplinary Center for ic: Animal Experimentation: Perspectives from Bioethics and Law.Oct. 11 – Animals and Food, part 2 of 2: Eating Mercifully and the Moral Case for Vegetarianism.Discussion Questions: Is eating meat morally wrong? Why? What agricultural practices, animal capacities, or religious viewpoints challenge the ethics of eating animals? Do animals have intrinsic value that makes eating them ethically problematic? What does the Christian tradition teach us about eating animals when compassion and mercy are primary values or modes of engaging with others? Readings:Jonathan Foer, Eating Animals, 1-270.Carol Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat, selections. Leo Tolstoy, “The First Step,” in Christianity and Animals, 194-197. Multimedia:Faith Outreach, Humane Society of the United States, Eating Mercifully, film. Guest Speaker:Katie Scott – The Faith Outreach Program of the Humane Society of the United ic: “Merciful Eating at Yale: Faith Perspectives and Compassion for Animals.”Oct. 18 – No Class, YDS Reading Period. Oct. 25 – Art Gallery Visit: Depicting Animal Ethics: Knowing and Seeing Animals in Art and CultureDiscussion Questions: How are ethical relationships between humans and animals shaped by culture and art and vice versa? What can symbolic representations of animals tell us about animal ethics? What role does art and culture play in shaping animal ethics? What can the existence of animals in religious art tell us about historical changes in religious ethics? Readings:Ron Broglio, “Thinking with Surfaces: Animals and Contemporary Art,” 238-258.Elizabeth Dodd, “Here the Animal,” Southwest Review 91, no. 3 (2006): 415-427.Laura Hobgood-Oster, “The Granted Image,” 81-106.Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, “On the Dynamis of Animals, or How Animalism Became Anthropos,” in Communion of Subjects, 439-457.Jonathan Burt, “The Illumination of the Animal Kingdom,” selections. Multimedia:TBD.Meeting Location:Today’s class will meet at The Yale University Art Gallery (1111 Chapel Street, New Haven). Nov. 1 – Animal Experimentation: Animals in the Lab and Medical ResearchDiscussion Questions: Why are animals used for medical experimentation and what is the benefit to humans? What ethics guide animal experimentation and what role does animal suffering and animal cognition play and what kinds of ethics guide animal experimentation? Are there any situations in which it is imperative from a moral standpoint to experiment upon charismatic or intelligent animals like chimpanzees? Since we all benefit from modern medicine, to what degree are we implicitly or explicitly enmeshed in ethical decisions that we find disagreeable? Does virtue ethics have anything to say about animal experimentation? Readings:Hugh LaFollette, “Animal Experimentation in Biomedical Research,” in The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, 796-825. Jane Goodall, “I Acknowledge Mine,” 230-283. Frans de Waal, “Are We in Anthropodenial?,” 50-53.Donal Soper, John Canon McCarthy, C. S. Lewis, and Cardinal Manning, “Animal Experimentation,” in Christianity and Animals, 156-166.Kenneth Shapiro, “Animal Experimentation,” in Communion of Subjects, 533-543.Multimedia:Video, “Kindness to Animals: What Religion Says,” online.TBD. Guest Speaker: Eugene Redmond – Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosurgery at YaleTopic: “The Ethical Imperative for Biomedical Experimentation on Primates.”Nov. 8 – Critical Hermeneutics – Race, Gender, and AnimalsDiscussion Questions: How are issues of race, gender, and species interlinked institutionally, ethically, and philosophically in systems of oppression? What does it mean to “dehumanize” other people and how does that relate to animal ethics? Why are animals often “left out” of our conversations about ethics, justice, religion, and gender? How might animal ethics function differently if thought of as a social justice issue rather than simply an animal ethics issue? Readings:Alice Walker, “Am I Blue?” 138-141.Marjorie Spiegel, The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery, selections. Carol Adams, “Bringing Peace Home: A Feminist Philosophical Perspective on the Abuse of Women, Children, and Pet Animals,” Hypatia 9, no. 2 (1994): 63-84.Kim Roberts, “Interlocking Oppressions: The Nature of Cruelty to Nonhuman Animals and its Relationship to Violence Toward Humans,” in Communion of Subjects, 605-615.Paul Waldau, “Pushing Environmental Justice to a Natural Limit,” in Communion of Subjects, 629-642. Marti Kheel, “The Killing Game,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 454-463.Christopher Carter, “Identity/Politics: African American Christians and Animal Activism,” 1-10.Nov. 15 – Extinction and Biodiversity Loss: Ethics, Environment, and the AnthropoceneDiscussion Questions: Rather than thinking about animals in terms of individual animals, how does thinking in terms of species or ecosystems change how we think about animal ethics? When we must choose between protecting an individual animal or an entire ecosystem, how do we decide? Does our ethical perspective towards an animal species change if that species becomes endangered? How so? When or how do we decide when the individual rights of an animal outweigh the rights of a community of animals? Readings:Winona LaDuke, “Introduction” and “Buffalo Nations, Buffalo People” from All Our Relations, 1-10 and 139-166.Albert Schweitzer, “The Ethic of Reverence for Life,” in Christianity and Animals, 118-120Karl Barth, “A Reply to Schweitzer,” in Christianity and Animals, 121-124.Kevin J. O’Brien, An Ethics of Biodiversity: Christianity, Ecology, and the Variety of Life, selections.Multimedia:Jane Goodall, “Reasons for Hope,” video, online.TBD. Nov. 22 – No Class, Thanksgiving. Nov. 29 – Keeping Animals: Pets, Zoos, and the Ethical Dilemmas of Confinement. Discussion Questions: In what ways does pet ownership generate flourishing, ethical relationships? What ethical issues are involved in the moral decision-making of pet ownership? Is it wrong to have pets? What are the ethics of breeding and captivity in zoos? Do zoos cause unnecessary animal suffering? How do zoos contribute to the preservation of endangered species? When can a zoo rightfully kill an animal? Ethically speaking, what does it mean for an animal to have a “worthwhile life” while in captivity? Does the inclusion of animals in worship services teach us anything about animal ethics? Readings:David DeGrazia, “The Ethics of Confining Animals: From Farms, to Zoos, to Human Homes,” in The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, 738-768.Randall L. Eaton, “Orcas and Dolphins in Captivity,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 497-500.Dale Jamieson, “Against Zoos,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 507-512.Michael Hutchins et al., “In Defense of Zoos and Aquariums,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 513-522.Laura Hobgood-Oster, The Friends We Keep, selections. Hillary Bok, “Keeping Pets,” in The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, 769-795.Clare Palmer, “Killing Animals in Animal Shelters,” in The Animal Ethics Reader, 570-578.Dec. 6 – Conclusion to the Course and Sharing of Final Papers.Your assignment for this week is to post a draft of your paper to Canvas for your peers to read and then to read and respond to two of the papers of your peers. Further instructions are on Canvas in the discussion thread for this week.In class, you will be presenting your papers and providing feedback and research support to your peers. ................
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