Oct 21, 2013 ... CFA 3377 ANIMAL RIGHTS. Professor Jean Kazez. Fall 2103 MWF 1:00-‐1:50.
Classroom: Hyer Hall 111. Email:
. Class blog: ...
CFA 3377 ANIMAL RIGHTS
Professor Jean Kazez Fall 2103 MWF 1:00-‐1:50 Classroom: Hyer Hall 111 Email:
[email protected] Class blog: arsmu.blogspot.com Office hours: MWF 2:00 or by appointment (Hyer 210)
Visit class blog today and sign up for email updates. arsmu.blogspot.com
COURSE DESCRIPTION. This course explores the nature of animals, their moral status, and the way we treat them. “CFA” courses are interdisciplinary. The course will span philosophy, law, religion, biology, psychology, and current events. COURSE GOALS. Students will tackle questions about animals and ethics from multiple, interdisciplinary perspectives; develop a basic facility with the concepts and methods of philosophical analysis; hone verbal and written debate skills; and build a foundation for greater reflectiveness about animals and ethics. REQUIREMENTS. 1. 3 exams – essay exams, final is not cumulative – 60% 2. 1 fact-‐gathering report (2-‐3 pages) – 5% 3. 1 group presentation – 10% 4. 2 scheduled quizzes – 10% 5. 4 surprise reading quizzes – lowest score dropped – 5% 6. 1 paper (5 pages) – 10% 7. Attendance and good citizenship (see below) ATTENDANCE. Attendance is required. Try not to miss any classes, as you will do worse on exams, miss quizzes, and contribute nothing to class discussion as a result. You have a budget of 5 absences to use as you please. I do not need to see excuses unless you exceed the budget. If you use up your budget due to chronic illness (be prepared to present documentation at that point) I will increase it. Otherwise, each additional absence will lower your final course grade by one point. CITIZENSHIP. Plusses are being attentive, bringing texts to class, and participating in class discussion. Negatives are coming late, doing work for other classes, texting, using laptops for non-‐class purposes (I can tell!), and the like. Citizenship will have an impact on your final grade if you wind up on the borderline between two grades. DOCUMENTATION. Exams cannot be rescheduled, and due dates cannot be changed, except for reasons of illness, participation in official SMU athletic events, and similar circumstances. Be prepared to document excuses. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES. “Students participating in an officially sanctioned, scheduled university extracurricular activity should be given the opportunity to make up class assignments or other graded assignments missed as a result of their participation. It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements with the instructor prior to any missed scheduled examination or other missed assignment for making up the work.” (SMU policy) DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS. “Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first be registered with Disability Accommodations & Success Strategies (DASS) to verify the
disability and to establish eligibility for accommodations. Students may call 214-‐768-‐1470 or visit http://www.smu.edu/alec/dass.asp to begin the process. Once registered, students should then schedule an appointment with the professor to make appropriate arrangements.” (SMU policy) RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE. “Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their professors in writing at the beginning of the semester, and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence.” (SMU policy) GRADES 90-‐100: Very accurate, very insightful, relatively minor flaws. 80-‐89: Some very good work, but also some significant gaps. 70-‐79: You've learned something, but missed many important things as well. 60-‐69: You’ve mastered a small amount of the material. 50-‐59: No mastery. 0-‐49: Nothing turned in, no effort at all, plagiarism, etc. HONOR CODE. Violation of SMU's honor code will not be tolerated. Every piece of work you turn in must be entirely your own. Writing a paper means both expressing your own thoughts, and expressing them in your own words. You may not copy passages from our texts, from any other texts, or from the internet, even if the passages are brief. No one else may write a paper for you, whether in whole or in part. In a typical case (for example, a student turns in a paper mostly cut-‐and-‐ pasted from several web sites), the penalty for violating the honor code will be an "F" in the course. On top of this grade penalty, the case may be presented to the honor council, which may decide to take further disciplinary action, such as suspension or dismissal from the university. TEXTS. (Please bring the day’s reading to class.) 1. Armstrong and Botzler, The Animal Ethics Reader, 2nd edition (TAER) 2. Kazez, Animalkind: What We Owe to Animals 3. Braithwaite, Do Fish Feel Pain? 4. Donaldson and Kymlicka, Zoopolis 5. Faber, Under the Skin 6. Articles at class blog (arsmu.blogspot.com) SCHEDULE I. GETTING STARTED Mon 8/26 Introduction Wed 8/28 Pre-‐philosophical ideas about animals Read: Animalkind ch. 1 + Animals in Western Thought, bible passages (at class blog) Fri 8/30 Animal ethics, past Read: Animalkind ch. 2 + Animals in Western Thought, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, and Bentham Mon 9/2 Labor Day (no class) Read: good time to get started on the novel Under the Skin (must read by 10/16) II. ANIMAL MINDS Wed 9/4 Are animals conscious? Read: Animalkind ch. 3 (pp. 37-‐44) + “Brute Experience” (at class blog) Fri 9/6 Are animals conscious? Read: Animalkind ch. 3 (pp. 45-‐53)
Mon 9/9 In depth: Do fish feel pain? Read: Do Fish Feel Pain? ch. 2-‐3 Wed 9/11 But do they really suffer? Read: Do Fish Feel Pain? ch. 4 Fri 9/13 Why it matters Read: Do Fish feel Pain? ch. 6-‐7 Mon 9/16 Beyond consciousness Read: Animalkind ch. 4 III. ANIMAL ETHICS TODAY Wed 9/18 Equality Read: TAER ch. 4 (Singer) Fri 9/20 Rights Read: TAER ch. 1 (Regan) Mon 9/23 Against animal rights Read: TAER ch. 2 (Cohen) Wed 9/25 Environmental holism Read: “Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair” (at class blog) Fri 9/27 Respect on a sliding scale Read: Animalkind ch. 5-‐6 Mon 9/30 EXAM #1 Read: keep on reading Under the Skin IV. ANIMALS AS FOOD Wed 10/2 Animal farming Read: TAER ch. 25 (DeGrazia) + ch. 29 (AA Alliance) Fri 10/4 The argument for vegetarianism Read: TAER ch. 32 (Rachels) + Animalkind ch. 7 Restaurant report due Mon 10/7 Four defenses Read: TAER ch. 27 (Grandin) + ch. 28 (Appleby) Grocery report due Wed 10/9 Four defenses Read: TAER ch. 30 (Davis) Fri 10/11 Four defenses Read: TAER ch. 34 (George) + “Utilitarianism and moral vegetarianism” (at class blog) Mon 10/14 Fall Break (no class) SEVERAL SYLLABUS CHANGES Wednesday 10/16 HIGHLIGHTED BELOW QUIZ (on whole novel) Class cancelled V. ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION Fri 10/18 Under the Skin quiz and discussion Mon 10/ How animals are used in research Read: Animalkind ch. 8 Wed 10/23 Guest speaker: John Pippin, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Read: Pippin, "Animal Research in Medical Sciences" So we are ready for discussion with Dr. Pippin, there will be a take-‐home quiz you'll need to turn in at the beginning of this class. It will be at the blog and will also be sent to you by email on Monday 10/21.
Fri 10/25 Pro-‐research response Read: TAER ch. 41 (Brody) Mon 10/28 EXAM #2 VI. ANIMALS FOR ENJOYMENT Wed 10/30 Should we keep “pets”? Class cancelled Read: TAER ch. 71 (Rollin & Rollin) + ch. 73 (Shephard) We will discuss these readings on Friday 11/1 Fri 11/1 Issues in veterinary ethics Read: TAER ch. 77 (Palmer) Mon 11/4 Wild animals in zoos and in the wild Read: TAER ch. 67 (Hutchins et al) + Animalkind ch. 9 Zoo Report Due VII. ANIMALS UNDER THE LAW Wed 11/6 New rights for animals Read: TAER ch. 79 (Wise) + “Can animals sue?” (article is at post for 11/4) Fri 11/8 Social justice for animals Read: Zoopolis ch. 1-‐2 Mon 11/11 Citizenship Read: Zoopolis ch. 3 Wed 11/13 Domesticated animals Read: Zoopolis ch. 4 (you can skip sections 4-‐5) Fri 11/15 Quiz and presentation planning QUIZ (on Zoopolis ch. 1-‐4 + your presentation chapter) Mon 11/18 Animal citizens Read: Zoopolis ch. 5 (required for presenters, recommended for others) Animal citizen presentation Wed 11/20 Wild animals Read: Zoopolis ch. 6 (required for presenters, recommended for others) Wild animal presentation Fri 11/22 Liminal animals Read: Zoopolis ch. 7 (required for presenters, recommended for others) + Zoopolis ch. 8 (required for all) Liminal animal presentation VIII. BRAVE NEW ANIMAL Mon 11/25 Genetically engineered animals Read: TAER ch. 53 (Rollins) Wed 11/27 Thanksgiving (no class) Fri 11/29 Thanksgiving (no class) Mon 12/2 Using GE to benefit animals Read: “Knocking out pain in livestock” (at class blog) Wed 12/4 Shriver Debate Read: look at Shriver again Fri 12/6 Lab meat Read: commentary (at class blog) Mon 12/9 Review for final PAPER DUE Mon 12/16 11:30 – 2:30 (Hyer 111) Final exam
