Advanced Philosophy of the Environment (PHIL*4040)

Term: Winter 2013

Details

Theoretical questions about the right way to treat non-human animals are as ancient as philosophy itself.
Aristotle, writing in ancient Greece (circa 400-300 BC), is well-known for claiming that non-human
animals lack reason or intellect, but that some animals are “intelligent.” Conversely, the Roman Stoics
denied that any language, reason, virtue or real emotion could be attributed to non-human animals.
PHIL*4040 Naturalism, Normativity, and the Ethical Treatment of Non-Human Animals will examine the
ethical treatment of non-human animals through the history of philosophy, poetry, applied ethics, feminism,
political theory, legal theory and ethical theory. We will examine the treatment of non-human animals in
Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Mill, Darwin, Hegel and Heidegger. What is the philosophical
category of naturalism? How should we understand non-human animal flourishing? We will look at
contemporary theoretical issues with respect to the moral status of non-human animals. We study applied
ethical treatments of the various areas of practice in which humans use non-human animals. How does
consideration of the ethical treatment of non-human animals lead to reconsideration of standard
philosophical matters such as autonomy, perception, mind, language, subjectivity, and individuality? We
will also examine the meta-ethical category of normativity itself. PHIL*4040 Advanced Philosophy of the
Environment: Naturalism, Normativity, and the Ethical Treatment of Non-Human Animals will acquaint
students with historical and recent ethical thought on

Syllabus

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