Theoria

3 Comments

1. Barret wrote:

   didn’t have a chance to read it in any great detail, but I enjoyed your conference paper (I will read it in detail). I agree with most all of it, and particularly found your literature review to be useful. The whole thing about academics liking dogs as opposed to artists, cats, strikes me as completely arbitrary and unsubstantiated- how on earth did you arrive at that conclusion? It’s not a criticism or anything, just a passing remark. Thanks for posting your paper. I’m writing a paper with a colleague on the Inuit seal hunt, so we may have some things to talk about. I’m still unsure about where I stand ‘at the end of the day’, but I hope to develop a more substantial position in the near to long term. As previously, I’m not convinced by the utilitarian position nearly at all, more properly resembling moral perfectionism and avoiding politics as the heterogeneous, and you paper seems to add support for the claim that the utilitarians aren’t all that concerned about animals at all, but rather about strict philosophical problems about maintainng consistency against inconsistent ‘laymen’ or regular people. In a word, it makes the philosophers feel good about themselves, they have reason on their side and can see the err of those who ‘still’ have to rely on animals for subsistence. The utilitarians would have us all feeding on whatever the corporations decide to produce next, ‘green’ food and whatnot. That doesn’t seem like a ‘viable’, to use a capitalist term, option in more remote and rural places.

   Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 4:44 pm | Permalink
2. Craig wrote:

   With the exception of Derrida and Montaigne, when academics write about pets, they write about dogs–Erica Fudge, Donna Haraway, most pet examples in animal rights/animal welfare texts are dogs (“dog in a lifeboat” or “dog versus child” are standard hypothetical examples). In the two recent animal themed art exhibits (in Kingston and Toronto), cats were the overwhelming example of animals.

   Send me your paper when you draft it. I can help out on any animal specific related issues you raise–I wouldn’t be so helpful on the Inuit issue.

   Glad you enjoyed the materials.

   Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 4:49 pm | Permalink
3. Craig wrote:

   I should add: Spinoza was fond of spiders, but insofar as philosophers go, Spinoza is always the exception.

   Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 4:50 pm | Permalink

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