Living with Animals: Rights, Responsibilities, and Respect

213 Pages·2020·2.322 MB·English

by  Erin McKenna

Living with Animals
Explorations in Contemporary
Social-Political Philosophy (ECSPP)
SeriesEditors:NaomiZack(UniversityofOregon)andLaurieShrage(FloridaInterna-
tionalUniversity)
Asourworldcontinuestobebuffetedbyextremechangesinsocietyandpolitics,philoso-
phers can help navigate these disruptions. Rowman & Littlefield’s ECSPP series books
areintendedforsupplementary classroom use in intermediate to advanced college-level
courses to introduce philosophy students and scholars in related fields to the latest re-
searchinsocial-politicalphilosophy.Thisphilosophicalserieshasmultidisciplinaryappli-
cations and the potential to reach a broad audience of students, scholars, and general
readers.
TitlesintheSeries
BeyondBloodOil:Philosophy,Policy,andtheFuture,byLeifWenar,AnnaStilz,Mi-
chaelBlake,ChristopherKutz,AaronJames,andNazrinMehdiyeva
RevivingtheSocialCompact:InclusiveCitizenshipinanAgeofExtremePolitics,by
NaomiZack
MakingandUnmakingDisability:TheThree-BodyApproach,byJulieMaybee
ComparativeJustWarTheory:BeyondHegemonicDiscourses,editedbyLuísCordeiro-
RodriguesandDannySingh
LivingwithAnimals:Rights,Responsibilities,andRespect,byErinMcKenna
Living with Animals
Rights, Responsibilities, and Respect
Erin McKenna
ROWMAN&LITTLEFIELD
Lanham•Boulder•NewYork• London
PublishedbyRowman&Littlefield
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Copyright©2021byTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
passagesinareview.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:McKenna,Erin,1965–author.
Title:Livingwithanimals:rights,responsibilities,andrespect/ErinMcKenna.
Description:Lanham:Rowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,2020.|Series:Explorationsin
contemporarysocial-politicalphilosophy|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.|Sum-
mary:“Thisaccessibleworkofscholarshipbringsapragmatistecofeminstperspectivetodiscus-
sionsaroundanimalrights,animalwelfare,andanimalethics,urgingreaderstomakeexisting
relationsbetter”—Providedbypublisher.
Identifiers:LCCN2020037391(print)|LCCN2020037392(ebook)|ISBN9781538128206(cloth)|
ISBN9781538128213(paperback)|ISBN9781538128220(epub)
Subjects:LCSH:Ecofeminism.|Animalwelfare.|Human-animalrelationships.|Animalsandcivil-
ization.
Classification:LCCHQ1194.M352020(print)|LCCHQ1194(ebook)|DDC304.2082—dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020037391
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020037392
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
Contents
Editors’Foreword vii
Acknowledgments ix
PrefaceandIntroduction xi
1 LivingwithAnimals 1
2 ChimpanzeesandOtherPrimates 19
3 HorsesandCattle 39
4 PigsandPoultry 61
5 WhalesandFishes 83
6 Pests 107
7 CatsandCanines 125
8 LivingwithAnimalsRevisited 151
Notes 159
Bibliography 177
Index 187
v

Editors’ Foreword
InLivingwithAnimals:Rights,Responsibilities,andRespect,ErinMcKenna
investigates the requirements for ethical coexistence between human and
nonhuman animals from the perspectives of philosophical pragmatism, eco-
feminismandecowomanism,andNativeAmericanthought.Throughoutthis
very readable and engaging book, McKenna shares a wealth of knowledge
aboutmanydifferent“beasts,”fromchimpsandcattletowolvesandwhales.
Shealsooffersclosereadingsofmanypopularnovelsandfilmswithnonhu-
mananimalprotagonistsinordertoexploretheambivalencethatmanyofus
experiencewhenweuse animalsforfood,sport,live entertainment,medical
research, domestic companions and protection, and clothing and other com-
modities. In addition, she reflects on her own encounters with nonhuman
animalsinvariousresearch,home,andfarmsettings.
McKenna finished this book just as the magnitude of the COVID-19
pandemic became apparent and our lives were reshaped in dramatic ways.
Her book raises questions that have become significantly more urgent, such
asthisone:Howdoweenterintodialoguewithpeoplewhotreatnonhuman
others in troubling ways so that we can find solutions to many problems?
These problems include the spread of zoonotic viruses, the contribution of
meatconsumptiontoclimatechange,thelossofhabitatfornonhumanothers
on the planet and its consequences, and the mass suffering of sentient and
consciousnonhumancreatures. Forabookthat confronts deepmoralissues,
it is surprisingly nonmoralistic, nonpreachy, nondogmatic, nonrigid, and re-
spectfultowardopposingperspectives.
vii
viii Editors’Foreword
Living with Animals makes an original contribution to social-political
philosophy by demonstrating how pragmatist ideas and methods can enrich
other theoretical approaches, such as ecofeminism. Moreover, this book
shows how the pragmatist strands of ecofeminism/womanism can address
contemporary social and political problems. With each chapter, McKenna
deepens and elaborates this pragmatist and ecofeminist approach, while of-
feringconcreteproposalsabouthowwecancoexistwithnonhumanothersin
amorallydefensibleway.
LaurieShrageandNaomiZack
SeriesEditors