3-12-09

3-12-09 Lecture 1st paper ? let us know that you understand the big picture ? the big controversies Ex. Horse racing Don?t? write about one aspect of whether jockeys should use crops or not ? big argument - Should horse racing exist at all ? should it be legal or illegal? What are the biological aspects of that? Why do people say it shouldn?t exist, why do people say it should? Write an objective summary ? there has been an increase in leg bursting wherein the horses need to be put down right there on the track ? because breeding practices have changed ? breed for fast growing, huge animals with a lot of muscle and not much bone who can run face when 2 but can blow apart when 3 ? race horses are treated better than most people are in the world ? treated loyal ? given an incredible amount of care and food? Pay attention to word use: Eating meat vs. eating slaughtered non-humans Meat vs. murdered flesh Vivisection vs. surgery Temperament = Genetic Predisposition (behavioral genetic predisposition ? born to be bold/shy?) Solely based on genetics Genetics Personality = Behavioral Predispositions influenced both by genetics and environment ? genetics and experience combined to create how an individual will behave Both Genetics and Environment Displacement Behavior A behavior preformed due to the inability to perform/inhibition of the desired behavior To take the place of ? a different behavior Ex. Person wants to yell at a boss, instead chews on fingernails, go running, have too many beers Re-directed Behavior The same behavioral action directed toward a different target than originally intended The same behavior, different target Ex. Cat redirects aggression toward house mate when sees intruder cat in yard ? nearly kills the other cat in the house because it wants to kill the one outside but has some constraint Ex. Dog bites owner?s leg when sees other dog Behavioral observations: Any behavioral signs of suffering? Experiment to find more subtitle signs Look for abnormal, persistent actions: Feather plucking, self mutilation, sterotypies Dogs lick lips to deal with anxiety Stereotypies: Repetitive motion Cause release of endorphins like serotonin and dopamine that can act as internal opiates *Careful though - not behavior or red deer Abused children rock back and forth for hours and hours and hours Women with long hair play with hair *Why is this a problem? The animal is calming itself? *Why does this animal need to self medicate? Choice Experiments: Species: pleasure and pain are evolutionary constructive responses Animals move towards pleasure Animals move away from pain Preference Test: Choice between 2 (or more) conditions Ex. Brambell Committee and size of wire in chicken cages Chickens prefer the thinner wire Ex. Sheep given choices to move into squeeze cage or electrical device Sheep move willingly into the squeeze shoots, but fight to the death to avoid going into the electrical device that electrically holds them in place Ex. Taught pigs to control their environmental temperature inside the facility - Pigs choose temperatures lower than had been thought they wanted - Improved well being of all ? less money to heat ? happier pigs *Brambell Committee - Formed because of concerns of chickens raised in battery cages Benefits to Choice/preference Tests: Animalcentric ? asks the animal what?s important avoids anthropcentrism Some tests are relatively easy to do Answers can be very clear Can get sense of strength of preference: How hard is an animal willing to work to get something or get away from something Disadvantages to Choice Tests: Preference is not an indicator of suffering Coke or Pepsi? Short-term preference vs. long-term preference Egg laying chickens prefer to go into confined areas to lay eggs ? every time they go in there they don?t get let out for the next 24 hours ? they then avoid the small area Methods can skew the results Study on asking if egg-laying chickens who were used to being in battery cages prefer to be on the normal family farm or in the battery cages ? they prefer the cages first off, they are used to them, afterwards they prefer the normal ground when it is as familiar as the cages Animals don?t always choose what?s good for them Oreos, chips? Lab rats will kill themselves if given access to unlimited cigarettes, cocaine, sugar? What is the choice is between two evils? Analogies with ourselves: Compare their behavior with ours If animal screams and cries it might mean it is suffering Imagine yourself in the animals? situation How would you feel if you had to eat feces? Dogs love to eat feces! Summary: No one method is enough to evaluate suffering in many cases We must integrate: Physiology Health Knowledge of ethology Observations of behavior Choice tests Analogies with ourselves if animalcentric Why Philosophy? *Last 1/3 or the course - current controversies ? wolves in Wisconsin, animals in research, agriculture/hogs raised in confinement Science is not enough to make each one of us make a decision on this stuff ? we need philosophy Philosophy: A study of the processes governing thought and conduct A system of principles for the conduct of life A study of human morals Philosophers are concerned with: What kinds of things exist? What can we know? What ought I to do? How should I behave? Ethics: A systemic account of right and wrong Moral code to philosophers *You can?t choose to have philosophical views or not ? everyone has them The question is: What are they? What are your views based on? *How should we treat animals and why? Historical Perspectives Aristotle: Student of Plato (tutor to Alexander the Great) Had to flee Rome for ?lack of reverence for the gods? Ethical issues including those relating to animals important to him ? over 2,000 years ?Rationality? separate and superior to ?emotionality? Mind/Body duality Great Chain of Being God ? Pure Rationality/Thought Free males ? All of below + Ability to Reason Free females ? All of below + little ability to reason Slaves/children ? all of below + language, no reason Animals ? All of below + motility and sensation Plants ? Take in nutrition, grow, reproduce Matter ? Inert, no activity *It is the duty of those with reason to rule those who do not have it *If an entity is ?ruled by? another, then is must exist for the purposes of others *Not accepted by all Greeks ? Pythagoras a vegetarian (because animals might contain souls of dead men) Decartes: 1596 ? 1650 ?I think, therefore I am? Still believed to be one of the worlds? greatest minds World is composed of only: Matter Intellect *The mind is not physical Bodies have no minds: Mind/body duality Decartes agreed with Aristotle that only humans could be rational Therefore animals, only ?matter? like machines ?automata? Have no sensations, but not awareness of themselves Kant: 1724 ? 1804 Known for treasuring intellect and moral integrity Profound influence on philosophical thought Each person has intrinsic value ? can?t make decisions based on utility or end result *A good end doesn?t justify the means You cannot hurt one individual to help another ? all individuals have intrinsic right Indirect obligations to animals ? if you hurt an animal You might hurt it?s owner Might develop a bad habit that would lead to hurting humans The only reason a thing is moral is because it can reason No regard to who feels pain and pleasure Pay attention to word use: Eating meat vs. eating slaughtered non-humans Meat vs. murdered flesh Vivisection vs. surgery Peter Singer: Current Australian philosopher Famous for ?Animal Liberation? Argues that REASON is not the issue ? the ability to SUFFER is the reason Ability to reason is arbitrary, like skin color or gender Any animal who can suffer should be included in the moral equation Each animal in the ?moral equation? counts equally Singer is an: Individualist The individual is the center of value Not the whole, not the population: It is not OK to kill off some deer so that they don?t? have to starve and die next winter Ethical hedonist Pleasure has value, pain has dis-value Disagrees with Decartes Argues that animals can suffer Disagrees with Kant We have DIRECT duties to animals *What for instance, are we to do about genuine conflicts of interest like rats biting slum children? I am not sure of the answer, but the essential point is that we do see this as a conflict of interest, that we recognize that rats have interests too. ? Singer Exams: This was a 90 point total ? grade on back Curve taken into account Average ? High 70s Usually in the mid to high 80s If you didn?t do well Read the key Pay attention to the exact wording ? what do words mean? Write up why you deserve more (or less) points ? bring in the first day after break ? put in mail box or hand to her in class