PHIL-234 Our Shared World
Most people think animals deserve some moral consideration---it would be wrong to kick your dog for no reason. But what is the nature and weight of this consideration? We will study 3 philosophical topics with the aim of answering this question. (1) What are animal minds like? Can they grieve, do they have a sense of justice, do shrimp feel pain? (2) How do we resolve inconsistencies in the ways we view animals? We eat pigs and cows, but not dogs and horses. We treat lab rats according to stringent ethical guidelines, but painfully poison them when they get in our homes. And (3) how should we relate to wild animals? Should we conserve species? Should we bring back mammoths and saber-toothed cats? Should we prevent the suffering of wild animals?
Standard Course (40)
Credits
1
Prerequisite
One 100 level course in Philosophy