David Sztybel
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David Sztybel (born February 2, 1967 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian ethicist specializing in animal ethics.
Sztybel develops a new theory of animal rights which he terms "best caring ethics," as outlined in "The Rights of Animal Persons."[1] Criticizing conventional theories of rights based in intuition, traditionalism or common sense, compassion, Immanuel Kant's theory, John Rawls' theory, and Alan Gewirth's theory, Sztybel devises a new theory of rights for human and nonhuman animals. As well, he criticizes utilitarianism, which according to Peter Singer (author of Animal Liberation), can justify invasive medical experiments on nonhuman animals and mentally disabled humans, and the traditional feminist ethics of care.
Sztybel's critical theory approach also takes issue with the traditional notion of animal welfare. Currently very few people question if using animals for food, experiments, fur, etc. can be respectful of animal welfare so long as it is done humanely or kindly. Sztybel, however argues that we would never call the same treatment of humans, mentally disabled or otherwise, to be consistent with their welfare. Sztybel coins the term "animal illfare" to describe conventional animal treatment. He holds that true animal welfare would entail wishing animals only good, and never avoidable bad, and so is only fully realized by very substantial animal rights and a corresponding great deal of respect for all sentient animals.
Sztybel contends that Singer's philosophy of animal liberation is not really liberating animals in general, and that Singer is a speciesist for defending the vivisection of animals on the ground that they have inferior cognitive capacities, since this is sanctioning harmful treatment on the basis of a species-characteristic which does not justify violent treatment.
Sztybel bases his theory of animal rights, in part, on a theory that individual sentient beings are ultimate ends in themselves, a theory of emotional cognition which verifies that some things really are good or bad for sentient beings, a non-utilitarian or individuals-respecting theory of what is best, and a defence of the proposition that sentient beings should be legislated as "persons." Sztybel is currently working on a book, Animal Persons, which deals with these issues with more theoretical depth and defence than "The Rights of Animal Persons."
His doctoral dissertation, Empathy and Rationality in Ethics, was completed in 2000 at the University of Toronto. Most of Sztybel's work is related to animal rights. Sztybel fulfilled an Advisory Research Committee Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Queen's University in 2001-2002.
[edit] Publications
- "The Rights of Animal Persons." Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal 4 (1) (Spring 2006): 1-37.
- "Can the Treatment of Animals Be Compared to the Holocaust?" Ethics and the Environment 11 (Spring 2006): 97-132.
- "A Living Will Clause for Supporters of Animal Experimentation." Journal of Applied Philosophy 23 (May 2006): 174-189.
- "Animal Rights: Autonomy and Redundancy." Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 14 (3) (2001): 259-73.
- "Taking Humanism Seriously: 'Obligatory' Anthropocentrism." Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 13 (3/4) (2000): 181-203.
- "Marxism and Animal Rights." Ethics and the Environment 2 (Fall 1997): 169-85.
- Three articles for The Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, pp. 130-32. Edited by Marc Bekoff. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998: "Rene Descartes", "Distinguishing Animal Rights from Animal Welfare", and "Jainism".
[edit] External link
[edit] Footnote
- ^ Sztybel, D. "The Rights of Animal Persons." Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal, 4(1), 2006. Available online at "Center on Animal Liberation Affairs".
