10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 17, 2014

But the tenets of the North American Model were developed in the 19th century, when wildlife ethics and science were a mere glimmer of what we understand today. The system was intended as a hunter-centric model, both guided by and benefitting consumptive interests. But is there validity to these commonly held ideas?

Wildlife 254

Wildlife Coyotes Hunters Wolves 254

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

In the majority of cases, it is humans who are to blame for the plunging numbers of animals, and Corwin is very clear about the extent to which we have destroyed the world around us. if we believe it's our right to do what we want with the lives of other animals. . . .

Polar Bears 100

Polar Bears California Condor Bald Eagle Lions 100

Animal Ethics

MAY 4, 2008

The issue as to who or what may be a possessor of rights is not simply a matter of academic, conceptual interest. If, for instance, it is determined that gravely mentally defective human beings and monsters born of human parents are not the kinds of beings who may possess rights, this bears on how we may treat them.

Animal Rights 40

Animal Rights Rights Animal Bears 40

Animal Person

MAY 12, 2009

So there was no traffic, no noise, and each day we awoke to the drama of the creatures who lived right outside our door. Creatures have come in phases for me: the duck phase, the cat phase, the dog phase, the bear phase (I was living in Vermont--it was unavoidable), the Canada goose phase. And a dead end.

Geese 100

Geese Ducks Feral Cats Vermont 100

Animal Ethics

OCTOBER 8, 2008

For, at least as both are usually construed, the only major difference between ethical egoism and act-utilitarianism is that the egoist is concerned with maximizing utility in his own case, so that only consequences which affect him bear upon the rightness and wrongness of his acts.

Bears 40

Bears Ethics Animal Rights 40

Animal Ethics

MAY 25, 2008

"The Puritan," Macaulay once wrote with condemnatory intent, "hated bear-baiting , not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators." That, on the whole, is the Christian tradition.

Morals 40

Morals 2004 Animal Suffering Vivisection 40

Animal Ethics

JUNE 17, 2008

What the utilitarian who defends human carnivorousness must say, then, is something like this: that the amount of pleasure which humans derive per pound of animal flesh exceeds the amount of discomfort and pain per pound which are inflicted on the animals in the process, all things taken into account. Is this plausible?

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Morals Vegetarian Cooking Slaughter 40