Animal Ethics

Timetable

Type of class: lecture with elements of discussion

Place: Campus Ogrody, Philosophy Faculty, street Szamarzewskiego 89 c 

Time will be provided 

Module aim (aims)

The  aim of the lecture is to introduce Students to the problems of contemporary animal ethics. 

 The lectures are  interdisciplinary, combining ethics and the results of biological research.  As Tomasz Pietrzykowski noted rational ethics cannot ignore the facts.

At the beginning of lecture basic concepts of ethics will be presented.

Students will also learn about the selected philosophical aproaches towards animals ( Descartes, Kant, Bentham, Schopenhauer, Regan).

Lecture Attendees  will get to know about the results of research on animal sentience and its implications for ethics and law. 

A significant part of the lecture will be devoted to the moral status of pets,wild animals and laboratory animals. The following issues will be adressed within this part: moral  responsibility for pets, duty of care, euthanasia of pets,  the limits of scientific research and using animals, ethical permissibility of zoos, predation and premature death of wild animals.

The last subject matter  is contemporary discussion on animal rights ( Pietrzykowski, Strucki, Rollin, Nussbaum, Scruton). 

During the lecture there will be space and oportunity to discuss topics covered. Questions and reflections are very welcome. 

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Students are expected to have both passive and active comprehension skills in English.

Syllabus

Week 1: Basic concept of ethics. Introduction to animal ethics.

Week 2 : Selected philosophical views on animal and their status ( Descartes, Kant, Schopenhauer, Regan)

Week 2: Sentience of animals and its ethical and legal implications. Which animals should be included in the circle of moral care? Moral status of vertebrates and invertebrates. Notions of animal pain, distress and suffering

Week 3 Pets.  General and special moral obligations towards pets.

Week 4 Euthanasia of pets.

Week 5  The use of animals in research.  The 3 Rs Principle. Discussion about ethical   permissibility of using animals in scientific research.

Week 6 Problem of predation in world of wild animals  Should man intervene in the world of nature in order to reduce death of animals? Ethical permissibility of zoos.

Week 7  Animal rights. Do animals have rights?  The ongoing dispute between animal welfare advocates and animal rights advocates

Reading list

Martha C.  Nussbaum, Justice for Animals. Our Collective Responsibilty.  Simon Schuster. New York-London- Toronto-Sydney- New Delhi. 2022

The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics ( edited by Tom. L Beauchamp and R. G. Frey). Oxford University Press 2022

Tomasz Pietrzykowski, Foundations of Animal Law. Concepts- Principles-Dilemmas. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytet Śląski. 2023

Bernard Rollin, Animal rights Human morality.  Prometheus Books. 2006

Stucki Saskia One Rights: Human and Animal Rights in Antrophocene. Berlin. Springer. 2023