Recognizing Nonhuman Morality

Claims that some sorts of genuine moral behavior exist in nonhuman beings are increasingly common. Many people, however, remain unconvinced, despite growing acceptance of the remarkable behavioral complexity of animals and despite the admission that there may be significant differences between human and nonhuman moral behavior. This paper argues that the rejection of “moral animals” is misplaced. Yet at the same time, it attempts to show how the philosophical task of exhibiting the possibility of nonhuman moral behavior is often misguided, leaving claims about nonhuman morality unnecessarily exposed to philosophical rejection

Human and animal individuality

Discussions of various connections between human beings and nonhuman animals in moral philosophy, for example in 'animal ethics', are dominated by a certain philosophical approach. This standard approach is characterized by philosophical assumptions about the nature of reason and argument on questions of morality and value. Assumptions like these tend to assimilate good thinking about value to a narrow interpretation of 'reason' which stresses rational argument and justification. This interpretation of what discussions about the value and nature of human and animal life should look like naturally leads to the creation of theories, such as the various theories of animal ethics proposed in utilitarianism, rights theory, and virtue ethics. In the field of animal ethics, three well known philosophers who advocate one or other of these theories are Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Rosalind Hursthouse. It has also been common in the standard debates about animals, from the 1970's onwards, for philosophers to accept that an 'objective' understanding of the mental lives of animals is most comprehensively provided by modern science, including ethology and evolutionary theory. In philosophy, and in significant parts of society, views on the relations between humans and animals have changed over recent decades. There is a greater tendency to take animal life more seriously than in the past. Parts of science and mainstream philosophy have lately tended to the view that human beings and animals differ only in degree and not in kind. Even philosophers who wish to defend the idea that humans are different in kind, often occupy the same ground as their opponents by turning to ethical theory to justify their views about human importance. In another part of philosophy, an alternative approach to these questions has emerged.;Two prominent philosophers in the Wittgensteinian tradition - Cora Diamond and, more recently, Raimond Gaita - have written on the connection between human beings and animals. This approach seriously questions the presuppositions of the philosophers who stand on more mainstream ground. The general position worked out by Diamond and Gaita claims that there is indeed a difference in kind between human beings and animals; but it also offers a means of exploring the question that, far from accepting the assumptions that the mainstream view and many of its critics rely on, has yielded, and promises to continue to yield, new and creative insights...

Strong patient advocacy and the fundamental ethical role of veterinarians

This essay examines the fundamental role of veterinarians in companion animal practice by developing the idea of veterinarians as strong advocates for their nonhuman animal patients. While the practitioner-patient relationship has been explored extensively in medical ethics, the relation between practitioner and animal patient has received relatively less attention in the expanding but still young field of veterinary ethics. Over recent decades, social and professional ethical perspectives on human-animal relationships have undergone major change. Today, the essential role of veterinarians is not entirely clear. Furthermore, veterinarians routinely face pressure, often insidious, to refrain from pursuing their patients’ vital interests. In exploring the concept of strong patient advocacy, this essay investigates the increasingly common suggestion that veterinarians have ‘primary obligation’ and ‘first allegiance’ to their animal patients rather than to other parties, such as their clients or employers. The related concept of a fiduciary duty, which is sometimes encountered in medical ethics, is similarly explored as it applies to companion animal practice. The resultant idea of a strong patient advocate places companion animal veterinarians conceptually and ethically close to human health professionals, not least pediatricians

Teaching Digital Ethics in Information Systems

This paper reviews and discusses the little-explored topic of digital ethics education in Information Systems and related fields. The importance of teaching digital ethics to students studying information and communication technologies (ICT) is increasingly recognised. However, it is unclear how ethics should best be taught to these future ICT practitioners. Using a narrative literature review methodology to explore existing scholarly work, this paper identifies five pedagogical theories related to digital ethics education. Additionally, the paper outlines approaches that deploy standalone ethics units, integrated ethics teaching, and hybrid teaching approaches, and identifies the employment of and emphasis given to various moral theories in digital ethics education. The paper then discusses how these three sets of findings—namely, different pedagogical approaches, degree of integration of ethics teaching, and use of moral theories—are related to each other. It provides educators with information and reflections to consider when designing digital ethics teaching

Invasion biology and its discontents: Human supremacy, language, and animal treatment

Invasion biology is increasingly facing criticism, including for its moral attitudes towards “invasive alien species.” In this paper, we argue that invasion biology relies upon ethical assumptions of human supremacy that are reflected in and reinforced by language used to categorize introduced animals in morally problematic ways. We discuss how denigratory scientific, official, and widely used terms such as “invasive,” “alien,” “pest,” and “feral” interact with the dubious treatment of animals, and we examine several aspects of how the demonizing meaning of these terms are shaped. The shaping factors we focus on are the differential treatment of “invasives” versus humans and other ecologically damaging animals, namely animals in agriculture, and the stock and performative treatment of animals labelled “invasive aliens.” We propose that such language should be essentially removed from biological and conservation sciences and consigned to history’s dustbin. In-deed, invasion biologists should come together to find a new name for their discipline—or rather, for the discipline “invasion biology” might become when it jettisons its assumptions of human supremacy

Initiating e-learning by stealth, participation and consultation in a late majority institution

The extent to which opportunities afforded by e-learning are embraced by an institution can depend in large measure on whether it is perceived as enabling and transformative or as a major and disruptive distraction. Most case studies focus on the former. This paper describes how e-learning was introduced into the latter environment. The sensitivity of competing pressures in a research intensive university substantially influenced the manner in which e-learning was promoted. This paper tells that story, from initial stealth to eventual university acknowledgement of the relevance of e-learning specifically to its own context

Approaches and Models for Teaching Digital Ethics in Information Systems Courses – A Review of the Literature

The value and importance of teaching Digital Ethics within Information Systems and ICT courses is widely recognized and stand-alone or integrated digital ethics units are broadly implemented across degree courses. However, how such courses should be taught and what content they should include is a little explored topic. Using a narrative literature review methodology, this paper reviews the pedagogical theories underpinning digital ethics courses discussed in the literature and outlines approaches that deploy standalone ethics units, integrated ethics teaching, and hybrid teaching approaches and the use of interdisciplinary models. The paper identifies the employment of, and emphasis given to various moral theories in digital ethics education. The paper then discusses how our findings relating to different pedagogical approaches, degree of integration of ethics teaching, the use of interdisciplinary models and use of moral theories—are related to each other. The discussion explores trends in approaches and models for teaching digital ethics highlighted in the review, and makes recommendations for further exploration and inquiry. It concludes that the effective teaching of digital ethics will likely involve a considered combination of approaches, models and techniques, which may also be tailored to the needs of different roles and industries