4,627 research outputs found
Review of Gary Varner, Personhood, Ethics, and Animal Cognition: Situating Animals in Hare’s Two-Level Utilitarianism
No full textWith his 1998 book, In Nature’s Interests? Gary Varner proved to be one of our most original and trenchant of environmental ethicists. Here, in the first of a promised two volume set, he makes his mark on another field, animal ethics, leaving an even deeper imprint. Thoroughly grounded in the relevant philosophical and scientific literatures, Varner is as precise in analysis as he is wide-ranging in scope. His writing is clear and rigorous, and he explains philosophical nuances with extraordinary economy of expression. Never one to add an unnecessary clause to a sentence, Varner nonetheless constructs a formidable edifice while always dealing fairly with the authors he criticizes. His explication of the properties and moral status of what he calls near-persons is a crucial addition to the discussion of personhood initiated by Parfit in Reasons and Persons and subsequently applied to animals by McMahan in The Ethics of Killing. The comparison to McMahan is intentional for, to my mind, Varner vies with him as the most important animal ethicist since Singer and Regan
Michael Rodriguez interviews author Gary Gildner
No full textAuthor Gary Gildner explains why he left his tenured teaching position to move to Idaho to became a full-time writer of poetry. Gildner talks about donating his personal papers to Michigan State University Libraries' Special Collections, his writing style and how he approaches writing. Gildner is interviewed by MSU Librarian Michael Rodriguez for the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writer Series. Held at the MSU Main Library
What is an Animal Companion? Revisiting the Barnbaum-Varner Definition
No full textMany animal ethicists have shifted from using the term “pet” to the term “animal companion,” but what exactly is an animal companion? Arguably, the most comprehensive description of what an animal companion is comes from Gary Varner, who builds upon the work of Deborah Barnbaum. This article examines what I call the Barnbaum-Varner definition of an animal companion. I suggest that while the definition mostly captures what we think of when we think of an animal companion, there are potential philosophical issues that may impede constructive use of this definition. A revised version of the Barnbaum-Varner definition is developed to avoid these issues
What is an Animal Companion? Revisiting the Barnbaum-Varner Definition
No full textMany animal ethicists have shifted from using the term “pet” to the term “animal companion,” but what exactly is an animal companion? Arguably, the most comprehensive description of what an animal companion is comes from Gary Varner, who builds upon the work of Deborah Barnbaum. This article examines what I call the Barnbaum-Varner definition of an animal companion. I suggest that while the definition mostly captures what we think of when we think of an animal companion, there are potential philosophical issues that may impede constructive use of this definition. A revised version of the Barnbaum-Varner definition is developed to avoid these issues
Author Gary Gildner reads his selected works at the Michigan Writers Series
No full textAuthor Gary Gildner reads "Sleepy time gal," "Pavol Hudak, the poet, is talking," and "Genealogy" then answers questions from the audience. The event is convened by Peter Berg, head of the Michigan State University Libraries' Special Collections. Part of the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Held at the MSU Main Library
Dress, law and naked truth : a cultural study of fashion and form
No full textWhy are civil authorities in so-called liberal democracies affronted by public nudity and the Islamic full-face 'veil'? Why is law and civil order so closely associated with robes, gowns, suits, wigs and uniforms? Why is law so concerned with the 'evident' and the need for justice to be 'seen' to be done? Why do we dress and obey dress codes at all? In this, the first ever study devoted to the many deep cultural connections between dress and law, the author addresses these questions and more. His responses flow from the radical thesis that 'law is dress and dress is law'. Engaging with sources from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare, Carlyle, Dickens and Damien Hirst, Professor Watt draws a revealing history of dress and civil order and offers challenging conclusions about the nature of truth and the potential for individuals to fit within the forms of civil life
Letter from Gary Okihiro, professor, Department of Asian American Studies at Cornell University to Michi Weglyn
No full textA letter from Asian American studies professor Gary Okihiro to Michi Weglyn apologizing for a critical review he wrote of her book "Years of Infamy" in 1977.These materials are from box 73 and 74 of the Frank Chin Papers. The Frank Chin Papers contain personal and professional correspondence between Frank Chin and Michi Weglyn relating to particular projects on which either author was working as well as files related to the Day of Remembrance Tribute to Michi Weglyn
Personhood, Ethics, and Animal Cognition: Situating Animals in Hare’s Two-Level Utilitarianism, by Gary E. Varner / The Philosophy of Animal Minds, edited by Robert W. Lurz.
No full textIt seems to be a widely held belief that we should not try to trap, kill, and eat any creature that can relate the story of its close call. While this turns out to be a good rule from the perspective of R. M. Hare’s version of utilitarianism, other intuitive-level rules about the proper treatment of sentient beings require revision, or so Gary Varner argues in his recent book Personhood, Ethics, and Animal Cognition. After defending Hare’s two-level utilitarianism in the first section, Varner turns to the question of the kinds of beings who worthy of kinds of concern, and in the final section he applies Hare’s theory to issues of animal agriculture. While Varner answers questions about whether we can eat some animals (maybe so) or factory farm any (probably not), significant work is done in the second section to defend claims about the cognitive and affective properties of animals. Varner argues that probably all vertebrates are conscious and hence are worthy of moral concern, though since no animals are persons with a narrative sense of self, they are not moral agents. Key to this section is the introduction of a middle category—near-persons. Near-persons occupy a middle ground in the moral hierarchy between the merely sentient and persons. Chimpanzees, dolphins, elephants and scrub jays qualify as near-persons, as might rats, monkeys and parrots—and these are the animals that we probably ought not make a regular meal of
Portrait of Fred Hilmer [transparency] /
No full textCondition: Good.; Title supplied by artist, see acquisition file number 204/08/00063-02.; Part of the collection of photographs of portraits of prominent Australians. "Fred Hilmer (& Prof Lex Donaldson), Prof, associate dean author of the Hilmer Report, AGSM, University of New South Wales."--Note from artist
Portrait of Helen Hughes [transparency] /
No full textCondition: Good.; Title supplied by artist, see acquisition file number 204/08/00063-02.; Part of the collection of photographs of portraits of prominent Australians. Emeritus Professor of Economics Helen Hughes AO joined the CIS staff as a Senior Fellow in April 1998. Helen has had a long association with the Centre, and is co-author of the CIS Monographs Australias Asian Challenge and Working Youth. Helen has worked at the University of New South Wales, the University of Queensland and the World Bank before taking the position of Professor of Economics at the Australian National University in 1983. She was also Director of the National Centre for Development Studies, and presented the Boyer Lectures in 1985
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