Animal Ethics

This course is an introductory survey of philosophical issues in animal ethics. We affect the lives of non-human animals in myriad ways. What moral obligations do we have towards them? For example, is it wrong to eat meat? To experiment on animals? To keep pets? Should we try to reduce predation? How (morally) important is it that we save endangered species? Some take these to be among the most important ethical questions of our time. We will start with a brief overview of animal minds; then we’ll examine several contemporary theories of animal ethics. Along the way, we’ll pay careful attention to the implications of philosophy for everyday life.