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    Read more about Animals & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights

    Animals & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights

    (13 reviews)

    Nathan Nobis, Morehouse College

    Copyright Year:

    Last Update: 2018

    ISBN 13: 9780692471289

    Publisher: Open Philosophy Press

    Language: English

    Formats Available

    Conditions of Use

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    CC BY-SA

    Reviews

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    Reviewed by Kevin DeCoux, Philosophy, Minnesota West Community & Technical College on 6/19/23

    This text presents a good intro to animal ethics. It creates a context and way to consider this topic and then pretty systematically moves through the topic. It includes some additional resources and readings that touch on many of the ideas you... read more

    Reviewed by Danae Wirth, Director of Accreditation for Education, Goshen College on 3/28/23

    The text covers the subject appropriately and with appropriate references. Primary reading suggestions are listed at the beginning of the book. There is no formal index, readings and recommended resources are inserted in each chapter as links to... read more

    Reviewed by Puspa Damai, Associate Professor, Marshall University on 3/4/20

    Though primarily focused on the works by Peter Singer, Tom Regan and Mark Rowlands, this book provides readers with a comprehensive list of ideas and arguments pertaining to the topics of animals and ethics. The content of the text is presented in... read more

    Reviewed by Cheri Carr, Associate Professor , LAGCC on 5/17/19

    The book presents itself as supplemental to Singer's "Animal Liberation", Regan's "Empty Cages", and Rowland's "Animals Like Us." I would add that it is more of a teacher's guide than a book to ask introductory students to read. The questions... read more

    Reviewed by Matthew Haug, Associate Professor, College of William & Mary on 3/28/19

    As stated in the author's preface, this text is not quite a stand-alone book on animal ethics but rather a companion or guide that can be read alongside some influential books on animals and ethics (in particular, Peter Singer's _Animal... read more

    Reviewed by Joey Tuminello, Instructor, Linn-Benton Community College on 3/3/19

    The content of the text is appropriately comprehensive for an introductory volume on animal ethics. The theoretical emphasis is on Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Mark Rowlands' ethical frameworks, as well as discussion of issues such as the use of... read more

    Reviewed by Bruce Mandeville, Associate Professor, Otterbein Univeristy on 5/21/18

    The book covers some common important animal use discussions. I do not believe it is meant to be definitive, but it does provide many commonly used resources for further investigation. This book is a great place to start the debate but future... read more

    Reviewed by Sarah Beighton, Research & Digital Resources Librarian, Staffordshire University on 2/1/18

    There isn’t an index as such, which is a shame, as this would be extremely useful. However, it is broken down into chapters which is good, and these are further broken down into sections which are well described, and the book is easily searchable... read more

    Reviewed by Christian Golden, Lecturer, University of Tennessee, Knoxville on 6/20/17

    There is a militant but minority school within the modern animal movement that calls itself the “Abolitionist” approach to animal rights. Championed by legal scholar Gary Francione, the approach strictly opposes incremental animal welfare reform... read more

    Reviewed by Jeffrey Pannekoek, Graduate Student/Ph.D. Candidate, University of Tennessee on 6/20/17

    The book does not offer much in the way of an index or glossary, but it is relatively short and searchable. read more

    Reviewed by Victor Matoush, Faculty Instructor, Rogue Community College on 4/11/17

    Comprehensive would be an understatement as this text goes extremely in depth to explore and discover all aspects of how we as a society approach our rights, responsibilities and dangers of our interactions with animals. At times, this becomes... read more

    Reviewed by Lutz Kramer, Instructor, Rogue Community College on 4/11/17

    The text provides an extensive set of links to both print and online material related to our interaction with animals. There are sections dealing with animal minds, our various uses of animals (including eating and wearing, experimentation,... read more

    Reviewed by Priscilla Connors, Associate Professor, University of North Texas on 4/11/17

    The author does a good job of outline the subject and defining the central focus of the chapters. Given these parameters the book is comprehensive. In the downloaded version I found a Table of Contents, however, there was no section distinctly... read more

    Table of Contents

    • Chapter 1: Introductions to Ethics, Logic and Animals & Ethics
    • Chapter 2: Animal Minds
    • Chapter 3: Defending Animals
    • Chapter 4: Defending Animal Use
    • Chapter 5: Wearing & Eating Animals
    • Chapter 6: Animal Experimentation
    • Chapter 7: Pets, Zoos & Hunting
    • Chapter 8: Activism

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    About the Book

    This book provides 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 (i.e., not wrong) and why? What, if any, moral obligations do we, individually and as a society (and a global community), have towards animals and why? How should animals be treated? Why?

    We will explore the most influential and most developed answers to these questions – given by philosophers, scientists, and animal advocates and their critics – to try to determine which positions are supported by the best moral reasons.

    About the Contributors

    Author

    Nathan Nobis, PhD is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA. He has taught courses, given lectures and published articles and chapters on a wide variety of topics concerning ethics and animals, bioethics, ethical theory and other topics in philosophy. 

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