HAS Courses in Philosophy
California State University San Bernardino
Susan Finsen
Interpretation and Values
This upper division interdisciplinary general education course is designed to allow students to reflect on the values and assumptions implicit in their daily lives, culture, science, media and technology. Examines global environmental crises (global warming), intensive agriculture, and the values that have put us in these crises. Also examines the plight of animals and explores the moral status question.
Canisius College
Animal Ethics
The philosophical principals underlying concerns for
animal welfare/animal rights. Application to real-world examples is
stressed.
Canisius College
Environmental Ethics
Examination of various theories of environmental
ethics that threat the issue of what ethical responsibilities human
being
Colorado State University
Philosophical Issues in Animal Science
Philosophical problems, theories relevant to professions in animal science.
Colorado State University
Agricultural Ethics
Basic concepts in ethics and their application to agriculture
Colorado State University
Philip Cafaro
Environmental Ethics
Scientific, philosophical, and religious concepts of nature as they bear on human conduct; an ecological perspective.
Colorado State University
Seminar in Animal Rights
Contemporary issues concerning nature and moral status of nonhuman animals.
Creighton University
William O. Stephens
Environmental Ethics
This ethics course examines what duties and responsibilities human beings have to the natural environment and the organisms within it. If speciesism is morally unacceptable by unjustifiably excluding non-human animals from the moral community, then what exactly are our ethical obligations to non-human animals? If anthropocentrism is in general defective, what implications do these defects have for the moral standing of individual plants, insects, and animals, entire species of organisms, waters, land, ecosystems, and the planet as a whole?
Drury
University
Patricia
McEachern
Animal
Ethics
This cutting-edge multidisciplinary course is designed to acquaint the
student with the contemporary and historical animal-rights issues. A primary
goal of the course is to raise moral consciousness about the most current
conditions and uses of nonhuman animals and therein the ethical dimension of
relationships between nonhuman animals and human beings. The course is
structured in two sections: a) ethical theory and b) applied ethics. The course
will be team taught by professors from across the disciplines. Students will
study a range of issues related to nonhuman animals including the animal rights
debate, spay/neuter issues, vivisection, animal law, animal fighting, views of
nonhuman animals in various religious traditions, sustainability, associations
between animal abuse and interpersonal violence, factory farming hoarding,
wildlife control, and overpopulation. In addition to Drury faculty, guest
speakers will address such issues as puppy mills, animal control, and issues
related to local animal shelters. The course will include a visit to an animal
shelter or zoo.
Duquesne University
Faith Bjalobok
Philosophy of Animals
This course examines the moral status of non-human animals in the western philosophical tradition. We will read such philosophers as Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Bentham, and Singer. The course also looks at the mercy perspective developed by Primatt and Scully.
East Carolina University
Richard McCarty
Ethics and Animals
The primary goal of the course is to learn more about ethics or morality from considering the significance of animals in moral deliberation. So in thinking about whether animals have rights, for example, we shall also need to ask wider questions such as, what are rights and how do they fit into the system of morality? Questions such as these lead us to investigate theoretical approaches to the study of morality in general.
Eastern Kentucky University
Matthew Pianalto
Animal Ethics
An
examination of major theories of animal welfare and rights;
consideration of issues involving the use of animals as food and other
goods, animal experimentation, wildlife, endangered species, hunting and
sport, pets, and zookeeping.
Eckerd College
Jason Sears
Ethics and Animal Welfare
Eckerd College
Jason Sears
Environmental Ethics
A philosophical investigation of our relationship to the natural environment, and how these considerations affect our moral obligations to other people, as well as future generations.
George Washington University
David D. DeGrazia
Moral Status and Personal Identity
This course integrates the important and challenging philosophical issues of moral status and personal identity, taking advantage of significant recent developments in the literature, and bringing the treatment of these issues to bear in investigating four areas of practical concern: the definition of death; the authority of advance directives in cases of severe dementia and persistent vegetative states; genetic engineering and cloning; and "cosmetic psychopharmacology." The first part of the course, focusing on moral status, places a strong emphasis on animals.
George Washington University
David D. DeGrazia
Ethics: Theory and Applications
This course is an introduction to ethical theory, methods of ethical reasoning, and several concrete moral problems, including ethics and animals. It is based on the assumption that critical ethical reflection and open-minded engagement with diverse viewpoints can improve the quality of moral judgment. Students are expected to identify and rigorously examine their own moral presuppositions and take responsibility for developing a body of ethical reflection that withstands critical scrutiny.
Green Mountain College
Steven Fesmire
Animal Ethics
What is the appropriate ethical
relationship between humans and nonhuman animals? This course is a systematic
study of animal ethics, a field that has emerged as a response to the profound
impact of human practices on other species. Topics will include animal
experimentation, hunting, bushmeat, livestock agriculture, landscape
sustainability, biodiversity, companion animals, vegetarianism, activism,
suffering, animal intelligence, animal cultures, animal emotions, animal rights
law, and the tension between animal rights and environmental ethics.
Green Mountain College
Steven Fesmire
Environmental Ethics
What is the appropriate ethical relationship
between humans and nonhuman nature? How should I live in light of my
relationships to the natural environment and to other animals? This course is a
general introduction to environmental ethics, a branch of philosophy that has
emerged as a response to the profound impact of human practices on the natural
environment, its ecosystems, and other species. Environmental ethics emerged as
a distinct discipline in the late 1970s in the United States, but as a branch of
philosophical ethics it draws from highly articulated traditions that reach
back to ancient times. The perspectives we will explore in this course are
relevant to how you understand yourself and nature, how you act in relation to
the more-than-human world, and what policies you will endorse. The purpose of
the course is not to answer all the questions we will raise, but to work
together to think more perceptively, imaginatively, and effectively about
environmental issues. The following are among the many topics we will explore,
often through case studies: global climate change; food production and
consumption; population, consumption, and the ecological crisis; energy and ethics;
the tragedy of the commons in the world's oceans; vegetarianism; the great
apes, endangered species, and habitat destruction; zoos; and competing
environmental philosophies. To help you grapple with issues in contemporary
environmental ethics, this course will include a series of "very short
lectures" on some key figures and movements in the history of ethics.
Humane
Society University
Nathan Nobis
Animals
and Ethics
This
course provides an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent
of our moral obligations to animals. Topics include general theories of ethics
and their implications for animals, moral argument analysis, animal minds, and
the uses of animals for food, clothing, experimentation, entertainment,
hunting, as companions, and other purposes.
Hofstra University
Ralph Acampora
Contemporary Ethical Dilemmas
Do atrocities of slavery, genocide, extreme misogyny, and animal exploitation have anything in common-such as massive scale or institutional structure? If so, (how) does that matter ethically? If not, why are some crossed? Should grave kinds of immorality be analyzed separately, and on what terms?
Humboldt State University
Susan J. Armstrong
Animal Ethics
Deals with animal awareness, moral development, language ability, pain and suffering, personhood, factory farming, experimentation, genetic engineering, sport hunting, legal rights and zoos.
Humboldt State University
Susan J. Armstrong
Moral Controversies
Humboldt State University
Susan J. Armstrong
Environmental Ethics
Humboldt State University
Susan J. Armstrong
Ecofeminism
Indiana University
Alyce Miller
Animals and Ethics
Through a variety of readings across disciplines, this course engages specific questions about our beliefs about, and interactions and relationships with animals philosophically, religiously, historically, legally, and scientifically, with readings drawn from a wide range of philosophers, ethicists, ethologists, scientists, lawyers, religious thinkers, fiction writers, poets, essayists and filmmakers. Invited guest speakers and "animal friends" add their perspectives. The course examines pet owning, wildlife preservation, hunting, farming, research, zoos and aquaria, and law and activism.
Indiana State University
Judith Barad
Ethics and Animals
Indiana State University
Judith Barad
Environmental Ethics
Macalester College
Diane Michelfelder
The Rights of NonHuman Animals
In this course, we will be exploring fundamental philosophical questions associated with extending human rights to nonhuman animals, as well as philosophical contributions to a number of lively debates on this matter. Our first question can be posed by borrowing from the title of James Nickel's classic work in human rights: How can we make sense of the idea that nonhuman animals have rights? What are the reasons that can be given in favor of recognizing such rights, and what are some of the objections to this idea? What role does the concept of personhood play in these discussions? From here we will go on to look at debates over animal rights from two different perspectives. The first will be the perspective of animal species. If at least some human rights ought to be extended to at least some nonhuman animals, to which ones and what rights should they have? Our second perspective will be that of setting, including animals in the wild, research lab, and both factory and non-factory farms. With regard to the latter we will ask how the issue of the rights of nonhuman animals is also an issue of environmentalism, particularly with respect to climate change. At a number of points along the way, we will pause to reflect on how granting rights to nonhuman animals would impact public policies and everyday habits of living. In considering these questions, it is anticipated that you will not only gain greater critical insight into what it may mean for nonhuman animals to have rights but for what it means for us as rational animals to have them as well.
Montana State University
Sara Waller
Other Animals
This course explores how animals have been, and currently are, understood from scientific, philosophical, and cultural perspectives. The understanding of both animal minds and behavior will be examined using a priori and empirical approaches. The various methodologies employed in studying animals, their underlying assumptions, and possible limits, will be discussed, as well as the larger moral issues they, and their findings, raise.
Morehouse College
Nathan Nobis
Bioethics
Morehouse College
Nathan Nobis
Ethics and Animals
This course will provide an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent of our moral obligations to animals. Which, if any, uses of animals are morally wrong, which are morally permissible? What, if any, moral obligations do we, individually and as a society (as well as a global community), have towards animals? How should animals be treated?
North Carolina State University
Gary Comstock
Open Seminar in Research Ethics
This is an online course in research ethics that has a module on the use of animals in research.
North Carolina State University
Gary Comstock
Human Nature
This is going to be a new course that will deal in part with ethical issues having to do with the treatment of animals
North Carolina State University
Gary Comstock
Research Ethics
This course deals in part with the use of animals in research
Northern Illinois University
Mylan Engel, Jr.
Environmental Ethics
This course seeks to determine whether and to what extent we have duties and obligations toward animals and the environment. Some questions to be addressed include: What is the value of nature? Is nature intrinsically valuable or merely of instrumental value? Do we have a duty to preserve the environment for future generations? If so, does this imply that we can have duties toward nonexistent beings (since future generations don't exist yet)? What are the most effective steps we as individuals can take to help preserve the environment? Is global warming real? If so, what steps, if any, should we take to help curb global warming? Should governments be implementing policies which encourage the use of Low Input Sustainable Agriculture [LISA] techniques? Do Western environmental practices oppress humans in developing nations? Are patriarchal patterns of male dominance to blame for many of our current environmental problems? Do we have a duty to protect endangered plant and/or animal species? Is it worse to kill members of an endangered species than it is to kill members of abundant species, and if so, why? Are some ecosystems better and more worthy of preserving than others? What is the moral status of animals? Is it wrong to kill animals for fun? Is it worse to kill animals than it is to kill plants? Is it wrong to torture animals? Is it wrong to wear animals? Is vegetarianism morally obligatory for people living in modern societies? Is animal experimentation (ever?, always?) morally permissible? What is speciesism and is it morally wrong? What bearing, if any, does our current treatment of animals have on the environment? What duties, if any, do we as individuals have regarding the environment?
Northern Illinois University
Mylan Engel, Jr.
Contemporary Moral Issues
The course seeks answers to some of the most controversial moral questions of our time: What is the nature of right and wrong? Who is to say what is right? Is capital punishment ever morally justified? Is abortion morally wrong? Can a just society allow individuals to starve in poverty while other individuals hoard billions of dollars? Do moderately affluent individuals have a duty to assist the poor? Is reverse discrimination morally wrong? Is euthanasia (mercy killing) morally permissible? Is suicide morally wrong? Is homosexuality immoral? Is premarital sex morally wrong? What is the moral status of animals? Is it O.K. to torture animals? Is it O.K. to kill animals for food? Is it O.K. to wear animals? Is it O.K. to experiment on animals? Do we have a duty to protect the environment for future generations? If so, what are the most effective things we, as individuals, can do to help preserve the environment?
Ohio University
Environmental Ethics
How should we value nature? What is important about it, and why? Is it important to us because caring for nature advances our interests, or because it is valuable in its own right? Do animals have special claims upon us? Should our primary concern be for individual organisms, or for species? This course will aim at thinking through some of the questions that surround the idea of valuing the environment in which we live, and understanding possible views as to the source and nature of that value.
Penn State University
Evelyn B. Pluhar
Ethics and Social Issues
This course examines a number of ethical issues, including the ways in which humans use animals for their own benefit or convenience. Arguments for and against such use are explored to help determine whether or not they are justified. Independent thinking and discussion are strongly encouraged, and students are evaluated on how well they can back up their views with clear, careful reasoning.
Penn State University
Evelyn B. Pluhar
Ethics and Animals
Purdue University
Lilly-Marlene Russow
Ethics and Animals
An exploration through the study of historical and contemporary philosophical writings of basic moral issues as they apply to our treatment of animals. Rational understanding of the general philosophical problems raised by practices such as experimentation on animals and meat-eating are emphasized.
Purdue University
Lilly-Marlene Russow
Environmental Ethics
An introduction to philosophical issues surrounding debates about the environment and our treatment of it. Topics may include endangered species, the "triangular affair" between animal rights and environmental ethics, the scope and limits of cost-benefit analyses and duties to future generations. This course was first offered in 1980.
St. Cloud State University
Jordan Curnutt
Environmental Ethics
Critically evaluate the ethical dimensions of environmental and natural resource issues. Identify moral values in alternative solutions and encourage reasoned defense of proposed actions.
St. Cloud State University
Jordan Curnutt
Topics in Ethics: Animal Ethics
Examines moral issues arising from our treatment of nonhuman animals. Questions explored include: What is the moral status of animals? Do they have moral rights? Do animals feel pain? Are they conscious? Do they have desires and beliefs? What are the moral implications of attributing certain mental states to animals? Is there a moral problem with euthanizing companion animals?
University of Louisville
Andrea Reed
Philosophy of Animal Rights
University of Louisville
Environmental Ethics
Examination of the moral status of the natural environment and ethical problems of human/environment interaction.
University of New Mexico
Walter Putnam
Zoophilosophy
Many philosophical and literary attempts to locate, define, describe, and understand the human animal have been formulated with respect to the larger animal world or to some notion of animality. Is man a "featherless biped," as Plato claimed or a "soulless machine" as Descartes believed? Do animals feel pain like us? Do they know they exist? How can there be thought without language? What separates the human from the non-human animal? And what do we share in common? These are some of the pressing questions that are being re-evaluated in light of scientific discoveries and cultural transformations along the fault line between human and non-human animals.
The bulk of the semester will focus on continental philosophers and writers who have based some aspect of their thinking on animals: Nietzsche, Heidegger, Agamben, Deleuze, and Derrida. Questions of identity and ethics will direct our thinking as we deal with issues of the status and treatment of animals. This course will bridge the literary and the philosophical by reading texts such as Kafka's "Metamorphosis" in light of Deleuze and Guattari's concept of "becoming-animal." I would like to devote some attention to the visual representation of the postmodern animal. This multi-disciplinary approach will allow us to gauge the range and richness of thought not only "about" but "with" the animal.
University of North Texas
Ecofeminism
Examines the merger of feminism with environmental ethics and its subsequent evolution. Subject matter includes the analysis of patriarchy, gender issues and multicultural perspectives within the larger framework of ethical responses to ecocrisis.
University of North Texas
Eugene Hargrove
Seminar in Environmental Ethics
An intensive analysis of new positions in environmental ethics with special emphasis on their theoretical value as a contribution to contemporary philosophy and their practical value with regard to environmental policy and decision making.
University of Redlands
Kathie Jenni
Ethics and the Environment
University of Redlands
Kathie Jenni
Taking Animals Seriously
A four week long internship at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah that is grounded in study of the history, issues, philosophies, and strategies of the animal welfare movement. One and one half days per week are devoted to class time; the remaining three and one half days each week are devoted to full time work in all aspects of the Sanctuary: cleaning, feeding and watering, socializing with and exercising animals, veterinary care, adoption services, humane education, and community outreach. Students may specialize in one facet of animal care during their final two weeks.
University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point
Advanced Environmental Ethics
This course is an advanced study of a certain area, figure, or problem in the field of environmental ethics. The theme of the course will change from semester to semester but may focus on such things as the works of a central figure in environmental ethics, the problem of intrinsic value, the topic of moral pluralism, non-anthropocentric environmental ethics in general, or environmental politics and activism.
University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point
Environmental Ethics
Parallel to the increasing public awareness of environmental degradation has been the need to examine these complex issues from a philosophical vantage point. This course is an exploration of contemporary approaches to environmental ethics, including Judeo-Christian stewardship, animal liberation/rights, biocentrism, and the ecocentric Land Ethic of Aldo Leopold. We will also look at such contemporary topics as Ecofeminism, the debate over the concept of Wilderness, Gaia theory, Deep Ecology, and radical environmental activism. This course also explores larger questions about the nature of nature, human nature, and what an appropriate relationship between human beings and the natural environment might look like.
Ursuline College
George Matejka
Animals and Ethics
During
the past three decades, there has been an increasing wave of ethical concern
about human treatment of nonhuman animals.
A primary goal of this course is to provide the student with a
foundation from which she can then continue to explore this emerging area of
ethics. The course undertakes a study of
the various approaches to the question of how ought human animals act in
relationship to nonhuman animals? We
first explore the animal rights approach and then move to a consideration of
the feminist caring approach. Both the
local and global aspects of our ethical relationships with animals are
examined. Similarly, the course explores
both the personal and social dimensions of these relationships.
Webster
University
Contemporary Moral
Problems
Examines the opposing
positions typically taken in discussions of contemporary moral problems, such as
euthanasia, the death penalty, pornography, animal rights, and world hunger. The
focus is on developing and critically analyzing reasons used to support a moral
position.
Webster
University
Environmental Ethics
An introductory exploration
of issues in environmental policy and the value presuppositions to different
approaches to environmental problems, including economic, judicial, political,
and ecological. Discusses specific environmental problems, focusing on their
moral dimensions, e.g., wilderness preservation, animal rights, property rights,
values of biodiversity, corporate responsibility, varieties of activism,
ecofeminism, resource exploitation, and technological advancement, global
environmental politics, and obligations to future generations.
Wesleyan University
Lori Gruen
Humans-Animals-Nature
Due to unprecedented
ecological degradation and enormous inequalities in the distribution of the
means of flourishing, human beings all over the world are being forced to
reconsider their relationship to each other and the non-human world. In this
course, we explore the character, conditions, and concerns that shape these
troubled relationships. The first part of the course will discuss the
philosophical basis for membership in the moral community. Do animals matter? Do
future generations matter? Do trees matter? We will spend most of the course
exploring how these things matter, if and when they do, by analyzing specific
cases/problems: vegetarianism, cultural hunting of whales, environmental racism,
and wilderness preservation. The goals of the course are to help you to think
critically, to read carefully, to argue well, and to defend your reasoned views
about the moral relations between humans, animals, and nature.
Western Connecticut State University
Kristin Aronson
Ethics and the Nonhuman
Students learn about the
treatment of nonhuman animals by humans, and learn how to argue logically and
evaluate moral arguments for and against practices and positions. The emphasis
is on critical thinking and development of proficiency in arguing the
issues.
Wofford College
Nancy Williams
The Fictional and Not-So
Fictional Lives of Animals
