PANEL 14 / ANIMAL ETHICS AND POLITICS
CONVENORS: ELENA BOSSINI, SOPHIA EFSTATHIOU
All enquiries about the panel should be sent to [email protected]. it and [email protected].
Non-human animals feature prominently in our social realm: some are used for food or for research, some are our companions, while others live in cities with us or in wild nature away from us. We cannot escape relating to them. As such, investigating, criticising, and shaping the ethical and political dimensions of these relationships is fundamental: animal ethics and political philosophy have long pursued the question of which ethical and political treatment we owe to non-human animals.
This panel seeks to advance and provide space to discuss the moral status of non-human animals, as well as the political frameworks and rights that govern their existence, particularly in light of persistent injustices and contested value conflicts. Central questions in animal ethics and political philosophy have traditionally ranged from the grounds on which moral status should be attributed to non-human animals to questions concerning who is epistemically and politically best positioned to assess whether unjust practices are taking place.
In this context, the ideologies of speciesism and anthropocentrism have played, and continue to play, a central role: speciesism is understood as the privileging of human interests over those of non-human animals based on species membership, while anthropocentrism refers to placing human interests, perspectives, or values at the centre of moral and political consideration. Despite being well-established phenomena, there is still ongoing work to explore the multifaceted materialisation of speciesism and anthropocentrism in our social realm. From this perspective, the panel seeks to critically engage with ethical and political issues that currently characterise our relationship with non-human animals and, in particular, it aims at exploring the ways in which a philosophical approach can contribute to ameliorating this very relationship.
To explore these questions, speakers in this panel will examine different forms of human–animal relationships, including those involving companion animals, animals used for food, and wild animals, with the aim of illuminating both the normative challenges they raise and the implications of philosophical analysis.
All enquiries about the panel should be sent to [email protected]. it and [email protected].
Non-human animals feature prominently in our social realm: some are used for food or for research, some are our companions, while others live in cities with us or in wild nature away from us. We cannot escape relating to them. As such, investigating, criticising, and shaping the ethical and political dimensions of these relationships is fundamental: animal ethics and political philosophy have long pursued the question of which ethical and political treatment we owe to non-human animals.
This panel seeks to advance and provide space to discuss the moral status of non-human animals, as well as the political frameworks and rights that govern their existence, particularly in light of persistent injustices and contested value conflicts. Central questions in animal ethics and political philosophy have traditionally ranged from the grounds on which moral status should be attributed to non-human animals to questions concerning who is epistemically and politically best positioned to assess whether unjust practices are taking place.
In this context, the ideologies of speciesism and anthropocentrism have played, and continue to play, a central role: speciesism is understood as the privileging of human interests over those of non-human animals based on species membership, while anthropocentrism refers to placing human interests, perspectives, or values at the centre of moral and political consideration. Despite being well-established phenomena, there is still ongoing work to explore the multifaceted materialisation of speciesism and anthropocentrism in our social realm. From this perspective, the panel seeks to critically engage with ethical and political issues that currently characterise our relationship with non-human animals and, in particular, it aims at exploring the ways in which a philosophical approach can contribute to ameliorating this very relationship.
To explore these questions, speakers in this panel will examine different forms of human–animal relationships, including those involving companion animals, animals used for food, and wild animals, with the aim of illuminating both the normative challenges they raise and the implications of philosophical analysis.
