Dear Colleagues: This weekend, I will be doing two presentations in the Toronto area. On Friday, October 1, at 3:30 p.m., I will be discussing, as part of the University of Guelph Philosophy Department Speaker Series, the welfarist view that nonhuman animals have a lesser moral value than do humans. According to welfarists going back […]
Dear Colleagues: In a recent article, Peter Singer argues: We need to learn how to capture and kill wild fish humanely – or, if that is not possible, to find less cruel and more sustainable alternatives to eating them. An alternative? How about vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and grains? As I have argued here and […]
Chris Hedges has written a terrific essay, “Retribution for a World Lost in Screens.” Although Hedges does not discuss the animal issue, his essay can help us to understand the present animal “movement” and why it is failing. Hedges argues that in our modern computer-focused culture, we no longer seek the ability to understand or […]
Dear Colleagues: Many of you express frustration that when you seek to engage other animal advocates in discussion about the abolition vs. regulation debate or the nonviolent vegan education vs. militant direct action debate, you find that the defenders of welfare reform or violence have nothing of substance to say. The explanation is that belief […]
Dear Colleagues: We always hear the word “humane” used in conjunction with the state of affairs that will exist if only this or that welfare reform, which is the subject of this or that campaign by this or that large animal welfare corporation (and for which your contribution is needed “for the animals”), is adopted. […]
Dear Colleagues: I posted an essay about the remarks of Viva! as reported in The Sunday Mail (a U.K. paper), concerning the sale in the U.K. of meat from animals slaughtered in the halal method. A “Reply from Viva!” was posted on Opposing Views, where my essay was reprinted: Reply from Viva! Gary, you may […]
Dear Colleagues: I am always saddened when an issue comes up in the news and animal advocates pass up the chance to educate the public about veganism because they want to jump on the new welfarist bandwagon and make people feel better about animal exploitation instead. The British newspaper, The Mail on Sunday, ran a […]
Dear Colleagues: Yesterday, I posted a blog essay about the need to promote veganism as a baseline moral principle and to reject the negative (but very self-serving) attitude of large animal groups that omnivores simply cannot understand the vegan message. This morning, our site received an email, which was forwarded to me directly, from Professor […]
Today marks the beginning of a new and important campaign for the animals. No Factory-Farmed Small Fish Friday The goal of the campaign is to encourage people not to eat factory-farmed small fish on Friday and, instead, to consume other animal products, in order to raise public awareness about the plight of factory-farmed small fish. […]
Dear Colleagues: In this Commentary, I address a topic that I have been asked to cover by a number of you: how do we talk with non-vegans about veganism? I present five general principles: Principle #1: People are good at heart. Our default position when we talk with people ought to be that they are […]