New Course in Fall: Ethics and Animals

Animal ethics is a relatively recent phenomenon in philosophy and throughout society at large, but the questions are very old. Aristotle and the Stoics debated whether animals have a psyche or soul. This course is structured as a high-level philosophical introduction to the central questions in animal ethics. It is appropriate for graduate students or students preparing for graduate study in animal-related disciplines, as well as for undergraduates with well-developed skills in reading and analyzing philosophical texts. It should not be viewed as a general interest course for students seeking to complete credits in the humanities. We will begin by with selected in-depth readings on the question of moral standing for non-human animals, and for conceptualizing the basis for human moral obligations in regard to non-human animals. This debate leads naturally to consideration of animal cognitive abilities, and to an examination of where one “draws the line” on ethical consideration of animals. From this point, the course will branch out into the ethics of using animals in specific ways: for medical research, for food, in zoos, in the wild, in biotechnology.

Course requirements will include short papers and in class essay examinations. Students enrolled for graduate credit will write a term paper.

Instructor: Paul B. Thompson Professor of Philosophy, Agricultural Food and Resource Economics and Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies, W. K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics, thomp649@msu.edu

PHL 442/001 3 credits
Tu/Th 12:40 to 2:00pm
314 Bessey Hall