*UPDATED 7-8-2011*

Over the course of this semester, we hope to engender a broad exploration of the animal question. This may include, but will not be limited to:

• the moral status of non-humans and its implications for human-nonhuman relations
• the intersect between animal philosophy and culture; moral objectivity and cultural relativism
• pain mechanisms and other biological/scientific bases for animal ethics 
• parallels between animal rights and other liberation struggles; black power, feminism, gender rights
• sociological perspectives on human-nonhuman relations; the process of othering

While we have our own ideas as to the direction in which the group could go, we are happy to amend the reading list on the basis of our ongoing discussions. Decisions in this regard will be made democratically.

Feel free to send suggestions to seanmunro_si@hotmail.com.

With a view to putting current attitudes toward non-human animals in some sort of historical context, we decided to begin with a few short pieces. One by René Descartes, an excerpt from the Bible and song from the 1967 film "Doctor Dolittle"

They can be accessed here:
Descartes - Animals Are Machines
Excerpt from the Bible (To download this as a pdf, select "File" on the left side of the window, underneath where it says Google. Then select "Download original".)
Doctor Doolittle's Song

This artwork is by Francisco De Goya.
The text on the table translates as "The sleep of reason produces monsters".