On the Importance of Species for Rule-Consequentialism: A Reply to Galvão

Utilitas ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-190
Author(s):  
EZE PAEZ
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Rule Consequentialism ◽  
Sentient Beings ◽  
The Ideal

Pedro Galvão claims that, on the ideal rule-consequentialist code, all sentient humans have rights, whereas animals do not. Because agents are not impartial, total well-being would be lower if they were aware of a general disposition to harm in order to promote the good. Animals cannot be aware of that disposition, so it would be justified to harm them when that is best. Galvão also claims it is wrong to help an animal, even when optimific, if that harms another animal. I argue he is misguided. First, impartial agents would err in the moral calculus, causing falsely optimific harms. To compensate for that, all sentient individuals must have rights – though those protecting some humans may be stronger. Second, when helping is optimific, it is at least permitted. Moreover, since most sentient beings are wild animals with net negative lives, agents should be generally disposed to intervene in nature on their behalf.

Formalization as a tool for environmental peacebuilding? Artisanal and small-scale mining in Liberia and Sierra Leone

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-55
Author(s):  
Christina Ankenbrand ◽  
Abrina Welter ◽  
Nina Engwicht
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Benefits ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Ethical Sourcing ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has long been a vital source of livelihoods for rural populations in the global South. Yet, it has also been linked to a host of social, political and environmental adversities, including violent conflict. As environmental peacebuilding increasingly stresses the importance of livelihood improvement as a means of fostering peace in conflict-affected extractive societies, ASM formalization has been identified as a solution to mitigate the sector's challenges, thereby addressing underlying causes of conflict. This article critically investigates the contribution of ASM formalization to sustainable peace by focusing on its impact on the livelihood dimension of peacebuilding. It analyses the livelihood impact of three formalization interventions in the diamond sectors of two countries: cooperatives in Liberia, and, in Sierra Leone, ethical sourcing schemes and a community-based natural resource management initiative. In line with calls for a paradigm shift from a narrow legalization-centred understanding of formalization to a broader approach that accounts for livelihood quality, the analysis presented here focuses on interventions that were informed by the ideal of improving the well-being of ASM workers and communities. We propose three pathways through which ASM formalization could potentially contribute to livelihood enhancement: income security, working conditions and community benefits. Based on fieldwork, this article highlights the challenges of generating livelihood improvements through formalization. Even when specifically designed to address the needs of ASM communities, during implementation, they risk prioritizing a narrow conceptualization of formalization and thus failing to become a conductor of transformative change.

scholarly journals Idealet om det glade og afstemte barn: Pædagogers blik for trivsel i børnehaven

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anette Boye Koch
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Early Childhood Professionals ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract: Danish early childhood professionals (pedagogues) are responsible for the well-being of all children in their care, but it is not clear what well-being implies. The article presents an analysis showing how pedagogues observe and categorize the well-being in children. Well-being is a state that pedagogues recognize by using special' seeing-techniques', related to their ideas of how children are supposed to behave in a certain context. The body of a child is culturally created, depending on the indoor or outdoor surroundings. The ideal of a happy child is an attuned child, who is able to adapt to adult expectations, while the physical surroundings are co-determining what the pedagogues 'see'.

scholarly journals O ESTRANHO PÓS-MODERNO E A LUTA DE CLASSES NO FILME "QUE HORAS ELA VOLTA?".

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Castello Romero
Keyword(s):  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Zygmunt Bauman ◽  
Discursive Analysis ◽  
The Stranger ◽  
Individual Security ◽  
The Ideal

Sigmund Freud tratou do ideal de pureza na modernidade que, segundo Zygmunt Bauman, continua a ser perseguido na pós-modernidade, dessa vez às custas da segurança individual. O “estranho” é o resto dessa busca e destoa da ordem desejada pela classe dominante, insistindo em se escrever nas formações discursivas, mesmo que seja em um lugar marginal; ele é sempre convidado a dar mais de si em troca daquilo que está à disposição da elite. Freud dizia que há sempre um preço a ser pago na busca pelos ideais de bem-estar, mas o poder de barganha de alguns é maior que o de outros. Esse artigo propõe uma articulação da teoria de Bauman sobre a pós-modernidade, principalmente o conceito de “estranho”, com os referenciais da Análise do Discurso Pêcheutiana. Essa articulação serviu de base para uma análise discursiva de alguns trechos do filme “Que horas ela volta” (2015), da diretora Anna Muylaert, escolhido por evidenciar o lugar do estranho na sociedade capitalista. Abstract:Sigmund Freud dealt with the ideal of purity in modernity which, according to Zygmunt Bauman, continues to be pursued in postmodernity, this time at the expense of individual security. The "stranger" is the rest of this search and dissociates of the order desired by the ruling class, insisting on writing in discursive formations, even if it is in a marginal place; He is always invited to give more of himself in exchange for what is available to the elite. Freud said that there is always a price to be paid in pursuit of the ideals of well-being, but the bargaining power of some is greater than that of others. This article proposes an articulation of Bauman's theory on postmodernity, especially the concept of "strange", with the referents of the Analysis of the Pêcheutian Discourse. This articulation served as the basis for a discursive analysis of some passages from the film "Que horas ela volta" (2015) by director Anna Muylaert, chosen to highlight the place of the stranger in capitalist society.

scholarly journals The Concept of Abhisamaya in Indian Mahāyāna Philosophy

2019 ◽  
pp. 19-29
Author(s):  
Sergey L. Burmistrov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Principles ◽  
Buddhist Teaching ◽  
Sentient Beings ◽  
Radical Transformation ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
The Ideal

Buddhist term abhisamaya is usually translated as insight or direct intuitive realization. Hināyāna texts treat it as a synonym for other terms de-noting the realization of the essence of Buddhist teaching. In Mahāyāna treatises it is interpreted as an intuitive recognition of the fact of the verity of Buddhist teaching before the logical realization of the basis of this verity. This recognition is the support for further logical comprehension of the essence of Buddhist teaching. It necessarily entail radical transformation of the person according to the moral principles of Buddhism. Therefore the knowledge acquired through this intuitive realization, unlike mundane knowledge, can never be lost. The question as to whether this abhisamaya gives the knowledge of entire Buddhist teaching or just its different parts that must be comprehended in a given stage of the Buddhist path was given different answers by Mahāyāna thinkers, but common idea was that this path is divided into stages and prelogical recognition is necessarily precedes logical com-prehension. The highest form of this intuitive realization is the realization of the bodhisattva ideal – the ideal of a person who refuses to be absorbed in nirvāṇa for salvation other sentient beings from saṃsāra. The acceptance of this ideal was treated in Mahāyāna as a necessary prerequisite for any intuitive realization of Buddhist Dharma

scholarly journals Urban trees as social triggers: The case of the Ginkgo biloba specimen in Tallinn, Estonia

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 234-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riin Magnus ◽  
Heldur Sander
Keyword(s):  
Ginkgo Biloba ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Human Organism ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
Cultural Ideal ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
The Ideal

Urban trees are considered to be essential and integral to urban environments, to contribute to the biodiversity of cities as well as to the well-being of their inhabitants. In addition, urban trees may also serve as living memorials, helping to remember major social eruptions and to cement continuity with the past, but also as social disruptors that can induce clashes between different ideals of culture. In this paper, we focus on a specific case, a Ginkgo biloba specimen growing at Süda Street in the centre of Tallinn, in order to demonstrate how the shifts in the meaning attributed to a non-human organism can shape cultural memory and underlie social confrontations. Integrating an ecosemiotic approach to human-non-human interactions with Juri Lotman’s approach to cultural memory and cultural space, we point out how non-human organisms can delimit cultural space at different times and how the ideal of culture is shaped by different ways of incorporating or other species in the human cultural ideal or excluding them from it.

Why We Ought to Accept the Repugnant Conclusion

Utilitas ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjorn Tannsjo
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Derek Parfit ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Repugnant Conclusion ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Hedonistic Utilitarianism ◽  
Sentient Beings ◽  
Very High

Derek Parfit has famously pointed out that ‘total’ utilitarian views, such as classical hedonistic utilitarianism, lead to the conclusion that, to each population of quite happy persons there corresponds a more extensive population with people living lives just worth living, which is (on the whole) better. In particular, for any possible population of at least ten billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better, even though its members have lives that are barely worth living. This world is better if the sum total of well-being is great enough, and it is great enough if only enough sentient beings inhabit it. This conclusion has been considered by Parfit and others to be ‘repugnant’.

Contemplating the Five Domains model of animal welfare assessment: UK horse owner perceptions of equine well-being

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-268
Author(s):  
KA Fletcher ◽  
LJ Cameron ◽  
M Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Equine Welfare ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Sentient Beings ◽  
Horse Owners

Traditionally, assessment of animal welfare generally focused on physiological signs of health with less consideration of psychological well-being. More recently, the Five Domains model highlighted the concept of all aspects of an animal's life influencing their affective state. In equestrianism, however, there is a lack of awareness of the Five Domains model and, specifically, how different factors may affect the mental well-being of horses (Equus caballus). This divide between scientific research and lay horse owners could compromise equine welfare by failing to recognise horses as sentient beings with species-specific needs. The present study therefore aimed to explore how evidence-based information can be effectively communicated to equestrians (n = 259) through an online survey and whether increased knowledge of equine welfare needs has any impact on horse caregivers' assessment of their own horses' quality of life. Results showed that a simple educational infographic based on the Five Domains model had a significant impact on equestrians' assessment of equine welfare, although longitudinal, empirical studies are needed. Scores on a Likert scale for health, behaviour/human interactions and overall welfare were significantly lower following the intervention but scores for emotional well-being were significantly higher. This may suggest that, whilst the infographic increased participant awareness of the importance of emotional state and the factors affecting welfare, there were difficulties or inconsistencies in objectively assessing these emotions. This highlights the need for equine welfare science to be communicated more proactively to horse owners in an accessible, engaging format.

Epicureanism

2021 ◽  
pp. 115-140
Author(s):  
Christopher W. Gowans
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Mental Distress ◽  
Moral Virtue ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Philosophical Foundation ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Ideal State ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Ideal

The chapter argues that ancient Epicureanism (mainly Epicurus, Lucretius, and Philodemus) is plausibly interpreted as a self-cultivation philosophy. The existential starting point is a life of irrational fears and frustrated desires. The ideal state of well-being is a life of pleasure, understood primarily as the absence of physical pain and mental distress (more tranquilism than hedonism). This ideal life is free of fear of death and the gods, and it is devoted to friendship, moral virtue, and the pursuit of desires only if they are natural and necessary. The philosophical foundation is a materialist, atomistic theory of nature and human nature that entails that death is nothing to fear, the gods are unconcerned with us, and only natural and necessary desires are important. We achieve this ideal through spiritual exercises that involve learning Epicurean philosophy, modifying desires, and cultivating virtue in a community of like-minded people.

The Changing Way of the Bodhisattva

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbra R. Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Social Activist ◽  
Altruistic Motive ◽  
Modern View ◽  
Canonical Texts ◽  
Sentient Beings ◽  
The Ideal

This chapter explores the nature of the connections between contemporary understandings of the bodhisattva path as socially engaged, and the canonical Mahāyāna tradition in India—the Ugraparipṛcchā-sūtra and the works of Śāntideva. These canonical treatments of the bodhisattva’s career are compared with a contemporary understanding as reflected in the commentary on Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra by Pema Chödrön. This analysis reveals distinct visions of the bodhisattva, from the Ugra’s elite superhero, to Śāntideva’s saintly bodhisattva, to the modern view of the bodhisattva as social activist. The career of the bodhisattva is furthermore shown to involve a range of types of social engagement. While the canonical texts support the ideal of imbuing all daily activities with an altruistic motive, as well as endorsing selfless service to meet the needs and wants of sentient beings, only the contemporary reading of the bodhisattva path advocates social action to address systemic causes of collective suffering.

Neither human nor natural: ethics and feral animals

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Singer
Keyword(s):  
Fertility Control ◽  
The Other ◽  
Specific Method ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Ethical Approaches ◽  
Feral Animals ◽  
Sentient Beings ◽  
The Given ◽  
Ethical Basis

There are three major ethical approaches to issues affecting nonhuman animals and the natural environment: an anthropocentric ethic, an ethic of concern for all sentient beings, and a biocentric approach. The ethic of concern for all sentient beings is the most defensible basis for resolving conflicts between the interests of humans and wild animals. There is no ethical basis for discounting the suffering of an animal simply because that being is a member of a different species. On the other hand, it is certainly true that human and nonhuman animals differ in their capacities, and this does make a difference to the ethics of what we may do to them, including rendering them infertile. Since ethics is not a matter of adhering to absolute rules, but rather of doing what will have best consequences, given the constraints under which we act, the ethics of using a specific method of fertility control for feral animals will depend on what other methods are being used, or will be used, if the given method is not available. It will also depend on the consequences of not using any method of controlling the population of the animals.

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