Animal Rights

I found myself inside her fur…

by Catherine Harper

A final version of this text was published in the Skin Special Issue (editor: Caryn Simonson) of Textile: the Journal of Cloth and Culture 6:3, Autumn 2008, pp.300‐314.
An earlier, shorter version of the paper was published in selvedge magazine (2005), and a paper based on it was presented at the 11th International foundation of Fashion and Technology Institutes (IFFTI) conference,
London College of Fashion, April 2009.
This essay has been developed as a chapter for Catherine Harper’s
second solo-authored book, Fabrics of Design (in progress, Berg: 2013).

Catherine Harper was a founder member of the Animal Rights Movement of Northern Ireland in 1983.

Fur is the ultimate “fabric of desire.“ Humans covet the gorgeousness of the stuff on the backs of the wild and the... more Fur is the ultimate “fabric of desire.“ Humans covet the gorgeousness of the stuff on the backs of the wild and the caged, and from that desire to those enacted in the orgasmic moment of death, the climactic moment of consumption, the ecstatic moment of the performic enactment of fur through wearing it, fur is synonymous with desire. In this article, the author examines fur as both a fetish-fabric that disavows its bodily origin, a material fabric tied to seduction, sensuality, and somatic sensation, and a sadist-fabric that cannot be decoupled from the pornographic “snuff“ violence of its manufacture.

No Pain, No Gain. The Understanding of Cruelty in Western Philosophy

by Giorgio Baruchello

2010 Filozofia 65(2): 170-83

Almost daily, we read and hear of car bombings, violent riots and escalating criminal activities. Such actions are... more Almost daily, we read and hear of car bombings, violent riots and escalating criminal activities. Such actions are typically condemned as “cruel” and their “cruelty” is taken as the most blameworthy trait, to which institutions are obliged, it is implied, to
respond by analogously “cruel but necessary" measures. Almost daily, we read and hear of tragic cases of suicide, usually involving male citizens of various age, race, and class, whose farewell notes, if any, are regularly variations on an old, well-known adagio: “Goodbye cruel world.” Additionally, many grave cruelties are neither reported nor even seen by the media: people are cheated, betrayed, belittled and affronted in many ways, which are as humiliating as they are ordinary. Yet, what is cruel? What meaning unites the plethora of phenomena that are reported “cruel”? How is it possible for cruelty to be so extreme and, at the same time, so common? This essay wishes to offer a survey of the main conceptions of cruelty in the history of Western thought, their distinctive constants of meaning being considered in view of a better understanding of cruelty’s role in shaping each person’s selfhood.

Creatures in Captivity and Ethics

by Poppy Valentine

Prisons. Factory States. Low-Wage Workers. Child Sex Trade. Animal Abuse for: Clothing, Entertainment and Food. I... more Prisons. Factory States. Low-Wage Workers. Child Sex Trade. Animal Abuse for: Clothing, Entertainment and Food. I really could go on with other outlets of injust captivity, but this covers some major ones.

Having it His Way: The Construction of Masculinity in Fast Food TV Advertising

by Carrie Packwood Freeman

BOOK CHAPTER: Freeman, C. P., & Merskin, D. (2008). Having it His Way: The Construction of Masculinity in Fast Food TV Advertising. In L. Rubin (Ed.), Food for Thought: Essays on Eating and Culture (pp. 277-293), Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

From an ecofeminist perspective, we conducted a semiotic analysis of 17 gendered television advertisements from six... more From an ecofeminist perspective, we conducted a semiotic analysis of 17 gendered television advertisements from six fast food companies in 2006-2007. Findings revealed that advertisers perpetuate the problematic stereotype that straight men consume the bodies of both nonhuman animals and women as a way to 1) seek freedom from personal, social, and ecological constraints, and 2) remain loyal to and identify with the heterosexual male group. While television advertising of fast food is an easy target for criticism, I still felt it was important to document how meat is culturally constructed as part of the heterosexual male identity in ways that are counterproductive to feminism, animal rights, and environmentalism. In an era where green marketing/washing and conscientious consumerism is en vogue, it is disturbing to note how some industries go in the opposite direction to promote freedom via irresponsible consumption.

Response to “Animal Rights, Animal Minds, and Human Mindreading.”

by Irina Meketa

Draft, 2009

[2011] Book Review: Donald Liddick's "Eco-Terrorism: Radical Environmental and Animal Liberation Movements"

by Michael Loadenthal

published in "Journal of Terrorism Research"

Since the “eco-terrorism” movement was first identified by the United States government as presenting the ‘number one... more Since the “eco-terrorism” movement was first identified by the United States government as presenting the ‘number one domestic security threat,’ a number of books and academic articles seeking to address the issue have emerged. Generally these scholarly pieces of work have tended to examine these movements through only their most extreme manifestations (e.g. bomb attacks, large scale arsons), failing to contextualize such incidents within a larger political praxis. Though ample literature discussing the movement’s ideological development, historical roots and tactical overview exist, Donald Liddick’s 2006 book, Eco-Terrorism: Radical Environmental and Animal Liberation Movements, is one of the lone examples which aims to develop anincident-based picture of the movement. Liddick’s book is broken down into seven distinct units, and while all deserve unique attention, Chapter 6 “Structure and Modus Operandi of Radical Movements,” presents the widest breadth of new contributions to the field.

Encyclopedia Entries on Anthropocentrism, Bovine Spongiform Encephelapathy, Cesar Chavez, Critical Environmental Theory (or Ecocriticism), Fur, Lab Animals, Environmental Movements, E.F. Schumacher, and Spaceship Earth

by Richard Kahn

Book Review: Peter McLaren, Education, and the Struggle for Liberation by Mustafa Yunus Eryaman (ed.), Hampton Press, 2009.

by Richard Kahn

Doden dieren alleen om te overleven? (Do Animals Only Kill for Survival?)

by Titus Rivas

Published in Gezond Idee!, Fall 2002, nr. 55, p. 26.

Review of "Sins of the Flesh: A History of Ethical Vegetarian Thought" by Rod Preece (Dutch)

by Titus Rivas

Published in V (vegan magazine), Fall 2010, nr. 86, p. 30

Review of ¡Basta ya! de sangre derramada by Valerio Caballero (Dutch)

by Titus Rivas

The denial of injustice: existential anxiety as a source of the underestimation of animal suffering

by Titus Rivas

Most of my friends aren’t vegans or even vegetarians. For me personally this does not constitute an obstacle for mutual friendship, but it has made me ponder: How is it possible that someone can be an involved and sympathetic friend of mine and that he or she at the same time is not aware of the ubiquitous consequences of speciesism.

7. On the Notion of Natural Rights: Defending the Voiceless and Oppressed in the Tragedies of Sophocles

by Catherine Rowett

Available on Oxford Scholarship Online

The chapter asks about the idea of animal rights and seeks to show that talk of ‘natural rights’ in general, where it... more The chapter asks about the idea of animal rights and seeks to show that talk of ‘natural rights’ in general, where it is coherent at all, is designed to express moral outrage on the part of a third party against the abuse of the vulnerable and voiceless. This being so, it cannot be the case that to have a natural right one must have a voice or language. Quite the reverse is the case. The chapter also shows that the appeal to moral absolutes on behalf of the oppressed in respect of their most basic needs, for which ‘natural rights’ talk is currently the favoured discourse, is a longstanding part of traditional moral thinking and can be traced in the tragedies of Sophocles.

Environmental Sporting: Birding at Superfund Sites, Landfills, and Sewage Ponds

by Spencer Schaffner

published in the Journal of Sport and Social Issues

This article describes birding as an example of what I call environmental sporting, an ostensibly green category of... more This article describes birding as an example of what I call environmental sporting, an ostensibly green category of sport that relies on both environmental protection and degradation. Three competitive forms of birding are explored in relation to three toxic sites: the birding event called the World Series of Birding and environmental Protection Agency (ePA) Superfund sites, big-year birding and landfills, and the competitive practice of listing and sewage ponds. At each site and in each competitive instantiation of birding, birders seek birds in close proximity with potent environmental toxins. The presence of active birds and birders at such sites works to make toxicity seem both hospitable and harmless. By discussing how birding relies on and ultimately masks the perils of toxic sites, the article suggests contradictions that arise from the relationship between sport and environmentalism.

Keywords: birdwatching; birding; pollution; sport; environment

Why We Have Ethical Obligations to Animals: Animal Welfare and the Common Good

by Michael J. Thompson

Published in Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker (ed.) Strangers to Nature: Animal Lives and Human Ethics. Lexington Books (2012): 179-202.

Abstract: This essay considers the ways in which Hegel's theory of ethical life (Sittlichkeit) can provide us with a... more Abstract: This essay considers the ways in which Hegel's theory of ethical life (Sittlichkeit) can provide us with a different understanding of our ethical obligations to animals. I argue that animal abuse and its toleration constitutes a distortion the ethical substance that we as social beings absorb. As a result, the state has a direct duty to protect animals from pain and suffering and to prevent the emergence of institutions and practices that foster such abuse and suffering. Arguing against the rights-based approach to animal welfare, I argue that we can see a more compelling argument in the anthropocentric understanding of our ethical lives and obligations to others. Seeing ethical life as "functionalist" in nature, I therefore argue that the approach I put forth, what I call "reflexive ethics," can provide us with a more rational basis for the legitimacy of legislation that protects animals from abuse, cruelty, and suffering.

Enlarging the Sphere of Recognition: A Hegelian Approach to Animal Rights

by Michael J. Thompson

Journal of Value Inquiry, vol. 45, no. 3 (2011): 319-335

This paper argues that a theory of animal rights and the ethical status of animals can fruitfully be argued from a... more This paper argues that a theory of animal rights and the ethical status of animals can fruitfully be argued from a Hegelian position derived from his theory of “recognition” (Anerkennung). The central claim is that animals, by possessing certain features in common with human beings, obtain a status as potential others to be included as relata within the sphere of ethical life. Although Hegel’s claim is centered on humans as members with recognitive status, I argue that Hegel’s theory of recognition is structured in such a way that it can be extended to include animals and their welfare. By leaving the abuse and suffering of animals outside of the structure of recognition, we allow distortions in our ethical self-constitution resulting in pathologies within a society’s ethical norms. From this, it can be argued that animals deserve not only our ethical consideration, but also that we have an obligation to protect them from abuse and suffering by the instruments of law and the state, the objective expressions of ethical life. Building off of the weaknesses of the Kantian approach to extending our ethical obligations to animals, I maintain that a reworking of Hegel’s concept of recognition can lead us to a more compelling claim about protecting animals from abuse and unnecessary suffering.

Can the subject-of-a-life criterion help grant rights to non-persons?

by Lisa Bortolotti

Published in 2010 in Hayry et al. (eds.) Argument and Analysis in Bioethics (Rodopi), 241-248.

In this paper I compare different criteria for moral status, and assess Regan's notion of a "subject of a... In this paper I compare different criteria for moral status, and assess Regan's notion of a "subject of a life".

Animal rights, animal minds and human mindreading.

by Lisa Bortolotti

co-authored with Matteo Mameli and published in the Journal of Medical Ethics in 2006

Do non-human animals have rights? The answer to this question depends on whether animals have morally relevant mental... more Do non-human animals have rights? The answer to this question depends on whether animals have morally relevant mental properties. Mindreading is the human activity of ascribing mental states to other organisms. Current knowledge about the evolution and cognitive structure of mindreading indicates that human ascriptions of mental states to non-human animals are very inaccurate. The accuracy of human mindreading can be improved with the help of scientific studies of animal minds. But the scientific studies by themselves do not by themselves solve the problem of how to map psychological similarities (and differences) between humans and animals onto a distinction between morally relevant and morally irrelevant mental properties. The current limitations of human mindreading – whether scientifically aided or not – have practical consequences for the rational justification of claims about which rights (if any) non-human animals should be accorded.

Moral Rights and Human Culture

by Lisa Bortolotti

published in Ethical Perspectives in 2006

In this paper I argue that there is no moral justification for the conviction that rights should be reserved to... more In this paper I argue that there is no moral justification for the conviction that rights should be reserved to humans. In particular, I reject James Griffin’s view on the moral relevance of the cultural dimension of humanity. Drawing from the original notion of individual right introduced in the Middle Ages and the development of this notion in the eighteenth century, I emphasise that the practice of according rights is justified by the interest in safeguarding the powers of reason and autonomy that some individuals can exercise. Since we are in no position to rule out that non-humans can exercise these capacities, I conclude that rights should not be reserved to humans. This will lead to a reformulation of the reasons why so-called ‘marginal’ humans and non-human animals can be granted some basic rights. Being human is neither necessary nor sufficient for holding rights. All individuals, human or non-human, who can exercise reason and autonomy to some extent can be accorded basic rights in virtue of their having morally relevant preferences.