Undergraduate Course: Philosophy of Animals (PHIL10230)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course will assess historical and contemporary conceptions of nonhuman animals and other living organisms from a variety of perspectives: metaphysical, scientific, cognitive, linguistic, ethical and theological. The main focus will be the divergence between Aristotelian and Cartesian accounts of animate life. Other philosophers whose views will be considered include Montaigne, Locke, Leibniz, Hume, and Whitehead, and more recent philosophers such as David Wood, as well all as new directions advanced by contemporary biologists, Denis and Ray Noble and ethnologist, Eva Meijer. |
| Course description |
The course will explore philosophical conceptions of nonhuman animals over the ages, from Pythagoras and Aristotle, through the Renaissance and early modern period and beyond. The course will be arranged thematically, beginning with scientific and metaphysical conceptions of animals, pitting Aristotelian conceptions against Cartesian and Lockean views. From there we will move to consider the Aristotelian-based conceptions from the perspective of philosophy of mind, raising questions about animal consciousness and intelligence, reasoning and conceptual awareness. Discussion of animal communication and recent research on animal languages will be followed by discussion of moral considerability of animals and the question whether animals themselves can be held morally responsible for their actions and choices. Finally, theological issues of animal suffering and innocence will be addressed.
Learning experience - Students will gain understanding of the variety and complexities of ways of thinking about and engaging with nonhuman animals.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 Philosophy courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Midterm essay (40%)
Final essay (60%)
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Gain understanding of a wide variety of ways of thinking about and engaging with non-human animals.
- Acquire the ability to analyze and critically assess arguments of contributors to debates on animals, natures and capacities.
- Acquire the ability to construct their own arguments on philosophical questions relating to animals and their abilities.
- Gain understanding of philosophical and theological reasons for and against attributing mentality and associated abilities to non-human life.
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Reading List
Primary (Sample)
Aristotle, Generation of Animals, De Anima
Descartes, Discourse on Method, part 5, Sixth Set of Objections and Replies, Rules for the Direction of the Mind, rules 12-14, Treatise on Man, Passions of the Soul, part 1
David Hume, Enquiry on Human Nature, section 9 (¿Of the Reason of Animals¿)
John Locke: An Essay concerning Human Understanding, Books 3 and 4
G. W. Leibniz, Correspondence with Sophie, Principles of Nature and Grace, New Essays Concerning Human Understanding, Books 3 and 4.
Eva Meijer (2019). Animal Languages: The Secret Conversations of the Living World (John Murray)
Pierre Montaigne, An Apology for Raymond Sebond (on animal language)
Denis Noble and Ray Noble (forthcoming). Understanding Living Systems (CUP)
A.N. Whitehead, Modes of Thought, ¿Nature Alive¿
David Wood (2020). Thinking Plant Animal Human: Encounters with Communities of Difference (University of Minnesota Press)
Secondary (sample)
Kirstin Andrews (2020). The Animal Mind: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Animal Cognition, 2nd ed. (Routledge)
Kirstin Andrews and Jacob Beck, eds. (2017). The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Animal Minds (Routledge)
Peter Atterton and Tamra Wright, eds. (2019). Face to Face with Animals: Levinas and the Animal Question (New York: SUNY)
T. L. Beauchamp (1999). ¿Hume on the nonhuman animal¿, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 24(4), pp.322-335
Andreas Blank, ed. (2016). Animals: New Essays (Philosophia Verlag)
Deborah Boyle (2003). ¿Hume on Animal Reason¿, Hume Studies, 29(1), pp. 3-28
J. Cottingham (1978). ¿A Brute to the Brutes?: Descartes¿ Treatment of Animals¿, Philosophy, 53(206), pp. 551-559
Simon Fitzpatrick (2017). ¿Animal Morality: What is the Debate About?¿, Biology and Philosophy, 32(6), pp. 1151-1183
John Grey (2013). ¿¿Use Them at Our Pleasure¿; Spinoza on Animal Ethics¿, History of Philosophy Quarterly, 30(4), pp. 367-388
Donald Griffin (1984). Animal Thinking (Harvard University Press)
Peter Harrison (1992). ¿Descartes on Animals¿, The Philosophical Quarterly, 42(167), pp. 219-227
Nicholas Jolley (2015). Locke¿s Touchy Subjects: Materialism and Immortality (OUP), chapter 3 (¿Animals¿)
Mark Kulstad (1981). ¿Leibniz, Animals, and Apperception¿, Studia Leibnitiana, 13(1), pp. 25-60.
Hassan Melehy (2006). ¿Montaigne and Ethics: The case of Animals¿, L¿Esprit Créateur, 46(1) (Montaigne and the Question of Ethics), pp. 96-107
A.T. Nuyen (1998). ¿Hume on Animals and Morality¿, Philosophical Papers, 27(2), pp. 93-106
Michael Northcott (2007). ¿Do dolphins carry the cross? Biological moral realism and theological ethics¿, New Blackfriars, 84 (994), pp. 540-553
P. Phemister (2016). ¿Malebranche and Leibniz on the Animals¿. In: A. Blank, Animals, : New Essays, pp. 161-180.
Mark Rowlands (2016). ¿Animals Acting Morally¿. In: A Blank,, ed. Animals: New Essays, pp. 333-354
Mark Rowlands (2012). Can Animals be Moral? (OUP)
Rebekah Sinclair (2013)/ ¿A Democracy of Fellow Creatures: Thinking the Animal, Thinking Ethics in Whitehead¿s Philosophy of Organism¿, Process Studies 42(2), pp. 200-220
Justin E. H. Smith (2011). Divine Machines: Leibniz and the Sciences of Life (Princeton University Press)
J. E. H. Smith (2016). ¿The Criminal Trial and Punishment of Animals¿. In: A. Blank, ed. Animals: New Essays, pp. 101-130
L. Strickland (2013). ¿God¿s creatures? Divine nature and the status of animals in the early modern beast-machine controversy¿, International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, 74(4), pp. 291-309
Evan Thomas (2020). ¿Descartes on the Animal Within, and the Animals Without¿, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 50(8), pp. 999-1014
Janice Thomas (2006). ¿Does Descartes Deny Consciousness to Animals?¿, Ratio (new series), 19(3), pp. 336-363 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The Philosophy of Animals course will challenge students¿ perspectives and assumptions by introducing them to differing views on animals in the history of philosophy. Through the seminars, tutorials and recommended readings, students¿ skills in close reading will be strengthened and their abilities to compare and contrast different viewpoints and critically evaluate their supporting arguments will be improved. Through the assessments, students will enhance their abilities to write clearly and concisely, develop their own viewpoints and defend them through reasoned argument, fairly and accurately outline the views and arguments of others, and manage their time and workload to meet submission deadlines.
Core skills gained or developed on this course:
Being open to different perspectives; Challenging own perspectives and assumptions; Critical analysis and evaluation; Formulating original arguments and justifying it; Preparation, planning and organisation; Academic reading skills; Time management; Understanding broader perspectives; Workload management; Writing clearly and concisely; Independence; Research skills; Self-reflection; Written communication |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Pauline Phemister
Tel: (0131 6)51 3747
Email: p.phemister@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Joan MacKenzie
Tel:
Email: jmacken8@ed.ac.uk |
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