Concordia University
Winter, 2009
MW 13:15-14:30
Professor Justin Smith
Office: PR-402
Office Hours: M 11-13:00
Course Description:
What is going on in the minds of animals? How do we know what is going on in there? Do our ethical responsibilities towards animals, if we have any, flow from what is going on in there? That is, is there something about the inner lives of animals that compels us to take them seriously as beings with some moral status? If our knowledge of the cognitive capacities of the various species of animals is in fact the basis of our moral commitments to them, then why do we treat some animals (e.g., dogs) so much more gently than others (e.g., pigs), even though the scientific evidence tells us that the latter are no less intelligent than the former? Might our sense of what our varying moral commitments to various animals be based on something other than our knowledge (if in fact we have any) of the richness of their inner lives? On the basis of what, if anything, should we be seeking to ground our moral commitments to animals? In this class, we will try to answer all of these very difficult questions, with the help of a number of readings from some of the most influential recent philosophers to engage with the problem of animal minds and human morals.
Means of evaluation:
• One midterm exam consisting in short answer and essay questions (20%).
• One final exam consisting in short answer and essay questions (30%).
• 12 one-page précis of the week’s assigned texts, due in class each Wednesday (30%).
• Class attendance and participation (20%).
Required Texts:
Stanley Cavell, Cora Diamond, John McDowell, Ian Hacking, Cary Wolfe, Philosophy and Animal Life (Columbia University Press, 2008).
J. M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals (Princeton University Press, 2001).
Cass R. Sunstein and Martha C. Nussbaum, Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions (Oxford University Press, 2005).
Schedule of Classes:
Monday, 5 January: Introduction
Wednesday, 7 January: Coetzee, The Lives of Animals
Monday, 12 January: Coetzee, The Lives of Animals
Wednesday, 14 January: Coetzee, The Lives of Animals
Monday, 19 January: Coetzee, The Lives of Animals
Wednesday, 21 January: Cora Diamond, “Eating Meat and Eating People” (SN)
Monday, 26 January: Cora Diamond, “The Difficulty of Reality and the Difficulty of Philosophy” (CDMHW)
Wednesday, 28 January: Cora Diamond, “The Difficulty of Reality” (cont.)
Monday, 2 February: Richard A. Posner, “ Animal Rights: Legal, Philosophical, and Pragmatic Perspectives” (SN)
Wednesday, 4 February: Richard A. Posner, “Animal Rights” (cont.)
Monday, 9 February: Peter Singer, “A Response to Richard Posner” (SN)
Wednesday, 11 February (DM): Martha Nussbaum, “Beyond Compassion and Humanity” (SN)
Monday, 16 February (DM): Martha Nussbaum, “Beyond Compassion and Humanity” (cont.)
Tuesday, 18 February: Midterm Exam!
Monday, 23 February: Winter Break
Wednesday, 25 February: Winter Break
Monday, 2 March: Stanley Cavell, “Companionable Thinking” (CDMHW)
Wednesday, 4 March: Stanley Cavell, “Companionable Thinking” (cont.)
Monday, 9 March: John McDowell, “Comment on Cavell” (CDMHW)
Wednesday, 11 March: Ian Hacking, “Deflections” (CDMHW)
Monday, 16 March: Ian Hacking, “Deflections” (cont.)
Wednesday, 18 March: Elizabeth Anderson, “Animal Rights and the Values of Nonhuman Life” (SN)
Monday, 23 March: Stuart Clark, Animals and their Moral Standing (handout)
Wednesday, 25 March: Stuart Clark, Animals and their Moral Standing (handout)
Monday, 30 March: Frans de Waal, Chimpanzee Politics (handout)
Wednesday, 1 April: Frans de Waal, Chimpanzee Politics (handout)
Monday, 6 April: Peter Singer, “Heavy Petting” (http://www.nerve.com/opinions/singer/heavypetting/main.asp)
Wednesday, 8 April: Review. (Final Paper Due!)
