minding animals conference thoughts
Today I attended a Minding Animals conference talk by Peter Singer, among others, on the topic "does philosophy have anything new to say about animals?"
I was struck by a comment one of the speakers made that basically said that at some point, philosophers must become activists. And that if a philosopher explored or espoused a certain viewpoint, but had a personal life that did not reflect those views, they could rightly be questioned.
What do people think of this, and how it applies to our relationship to and how we think about animals? I personally think that it isn't good enough to feel compassion for animals or theorise on animal welfare if you're not going to transform that into action; and likewise, I find it difficult to take anyone who speaks up for animals seriously if they say, eat flesh or wear it.
Thoughts? Comments?
I was struck by a comment one of the speakers made that basically said that at some point, philosophers must become activists. And that if a philosopher explored or espoused a certain viewpoint, but had a personal life that did not reflect those views, they could rightly be questioned.
What do people think of this, and how it applies to our relationship to and how we think about animals? I personally think that it isn't good enough to feel compassion for animals or theorise on animal welfare if you're not going to transform that into action; and likewise, I find it difficult to take anyone who speaks up for animals seriously if they say, eat flesh or wear it.
Thoughts? Comments?