Rewilding and mixed-community collaboration in conservation

Rewilding is a psychological and sociocultural event for nonhuman animals that goes beyond the traditional framework of ecology. Elephants need to be seen as political agents in a collaboration. Our commentators shed light on the hierarchical assumptions and politics involved. Mixed-community collaboration can create dynamic and sustainable conservation interventions that are crucial to reconceptualizing the human-elephant relationship beyond the concept of labor. The profound effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have laid bare the fundamental vulnerabilities of the elephant tourism industry. Moreover, how well an elephant has been buffered by the fallout of the pandemic is dependent on the specific relations between mahouts and elephants

To preserve or to conserve?

Treves et al. propose the notion of trusteeship to help meet our responsibility to nature and individual animals, their homes, cultures, and societies. This proposal is grounded in a real-world framework that reveals how conservation has become distorted by anthropocentrism, human exceptionalism, and ethical hypocrisy

What’s the common sense of just some improvement of some welfare for some animals?

The goal of Animal Welfare Science to reduce animal suffering is commendable but too modest: Suffering animals need and deserve far more

What’s the common sense of just some improvement of some welfare for some animals?

The goal of Animal Welfare Science to reduce animal suffering is commendable but too modest: Suffering animals need and deserve far more

Il contrapasso nell’Inferno di Dante Alighieri: un’analisi del contrapasso attraverso Francesca da Rimini, Conte Ugolino, e Lucifero

In his Divina Commedia, Dante Alighieri uses the contrapasso as an instrument to administer justice to the sinners in Inferno. The law of the contrapasso mandates that the punishments inflicted upon the sinners in Inferno respect the nature of the sins that they committed on earth. In Dante’s afterlife, the contrapasso is the means to fulfill the sinners’ ultimate destinies, as determined by their terrestrial choices and actions. Though he explicitly uses the term contrapasso only once, the poet invites its application in every circle of the Inferno. This thesis explores the law of the contrapasso in specific relation to Francesca da Rimini, Conte Ugolino, and Lucifero. It also evaluates the pilgrim’s ability to maintain a critical distance from the sinners. The pilgrim’s emotions often impede on his ability to see sin for what it is, thus stalling his moral development as well as his ascent to Purgatorio. My research concludes that the poet creates a series of requirements that the pilgrim must satisfy before beginning his ascent. First, he must get close enough to the sinners to understand the nature of their sins, but not too close that he forgets the scope of his mission. Second, he must resist the tendency to be manipulated by the sinners. Third, he must dehumanize the sinners so as not to be distracted from the fact that they are personifications of evil: Francesca’s seductive façade distracts from her adulterous past; Ugolino’s sympathy-evoking role as a father distracts from his betrayal of his homeland and potential cannibalistic involvement; Lucifero’s pathetic and drooling essence distracts from his betrayal of God. Fourth, he must accept and evaluate how well the contrapasso fits the respective sin. In sum, the poet’s integration of the contrapasso into the physical and moral organization of Inferno reveals what justice the poet considers adequate for each sin

Recognizing animal personhood in compassionate conservation

Compassionate conservation is based on the ethical position that actions taken to protect biodiversity should be guided by compassion for all sentient beings. Critics argue that there are 3 core reasons harming animals is acceptable in conservation programs: the primary purpose of conservation is biodiversity protection; conservation is already compassionate to animals; and conservation should prioritize compassion to humans. We used argument analysis to clarify the values and logics underlying the debate around compassionate conservation. We found that objections to compassionate conservation are expressions of human exceptionalism, the view that humans are of a categorically separate and higher moral status than all other species. In contrast, compassionate conservationists believe that conservation should expand its moral community by recognizing all sentient beings as persons. Personhood, in an ethical sense, implies the individual is owed respect and should not be treated merely as a means to other ends. On scientific and ethical grounds, there are good reasons to extend personhood to sentient animals, particularly in conservation. The moral exclusion or subordination of members of other species legitimates the ongoing manipulation and exploitation of the living worlds, the very reason conservation was needed in the first place. Embracing compassion can help dismantle human exceptionalism, recognize nonhuman personhood, and navigate a more expansive moral space