David Sztybel
Encyclopedia
David Sztybel is a Canadian
ethicist
specializing in animal ethics.
Sztybel develops a new theory of animal rights
which he terms "best caring," as outlined in "The Rights of Animal Persons." 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 right
s 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 approach also takes issue with the traditional notion of animal welfare
. Currently many people do not consider whether 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 only entail wishing animals good (never anything avoidably malicious). He supports that fully realized substantial animal rights correspond to a significant respect for all sentient
animals.
Sztybel contends that Singer's philosophy of animal liberation is not really about liberating animals in general; he accuses Singer of being a speciesist
for defending the vivisection of animals on the ground that they have inferior cognitive capacities. In so doing, Singer is effectively sanctioning the harmful treatment of nonhuman animals 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. This is a non-utilitarian or "individuals-respecting" theory that defends the proposition that all sentient beings should be legally recognized as "persons." Sztybel is currently working on a book on animal rights ethics which deals with these issues with more theoretical depth and defense than "The Rights of Animal Persons."
Sztybel provides a critique of the views of Gary L. Francione and Joan Dunayer which hold that animal rights supporters should not support so-called "welfarist" laws. A defense of suffering-reduction laws and a discussion of the logical problems of anti-welfarism are featured in Sztybel's article, "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism," and are further explored in Sztybel's blog on his website.
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.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
ethicist
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
specializing in animal ethics.
Sztybel develops a new theory of animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
which he terms "best caring," as outlined in "The Rights of Animal Persons." Criticizing conventional theories of rights based in intuition, traditionalism or common sense, compassion, Immanuel Kant's
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
theory, John Rawls'
John Rawls
John Bordley Rawls was an American philosopher and a leading figure in moral and political philosophy. He held the James Bryant Conant University Professorship at Harvard University....
theory, and Alan Gewirth's
Alan Gewirth
Alan Gewirth was an American philosopher, a professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago, and author of Reason and Morality, , Human Rights: Essays on Justification and Applications , The Community of Rights , Self-Fulfillment , and numerous other writings in moral philosophy and political...
theory, Sztybel devises a new theory of right
Right
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
s for human and nonhuman animals. As well, he criticizes utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...
, which according to Peter Singer
Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...
(author of Animal Liberation), can justify invasive medical experiments on nonhuman animals and mentally disabled humans
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
, and the traditional feminist ethics of care
Ethics of care
The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory; that is, a theory about what makes actions right or wrong. It is one of a cluster of normative ethical theories that were developed by feminists in the second half of the twentieth century...
.
Sztybel's critical approach also takes issue with the traditional notion of animal welfare
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
. Currently many people do not consider whether 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 only entail wishing animals good (never anything avoidably malicious). He supports that fully realized substantial animal rights correspond to a significant respect for all sentient
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
animals.
Sztybel contends that Singer's philosophy of animal liberation is not really about liberating animals in general; he accuses Singer of being a speciesist
Speciesism
Speciesism is the assigning of different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership. The term was created by British psychologist Richard D...
for defending the vivisection of animals on the ground that they have inferior cognitive capacities. In so doing, Singer is effectively sanctioning the harmful treatment of nonhuman animals 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. This is a non-utilitarian or "individuals-respecting" theory that defends the proposition that all sentient beings should be legally recognized as "persons." Sztybel is currently working on a book on animal rights ethics which deals with these issues with more theoretical depth and defense than "The Rights of Animal Persons."
Sztybel provides a critique of the views of Gary L. Francione and Joan Dunayer which hold that animal rights supporters should not support so-called "welfarist" laws. A defense of suffering-reduction laws and a discussion of the logical problems of anti-welfarism are featured in Sztybel's article, "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism," and are further explored in Sztybel's blog on his website.
His doctoral dissertation, Empathy and Rationality in Ethics, was completed in 2000 at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. Most of Sztybel's work is related to animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
.
Sztybel fulfilled an Advisory Research Committee Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
in 2001-2002.
Publications
- "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism." Journal for Critical Animal Studies 5 (1) (2007): 1-37. http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/JCAS/Journal_Articles_download/Issue_6/sztybel.pdf
- "The Rights of Animal Persons." Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal 4 (1) (Spring 2006): 1-37. http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/JCAS/Journal_Articles_download/Issue_5/sztybel.pdf
- "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 BekoffMarc BekoffMarc Bekoff is Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He currently lives in Colorado and lectures internationally on issues of animal behavior, cognitive ethology , and behavioral ecology.Like Jane Goodall, Marc Bekoff is an ethologist, which...
. Westport, ConnecticutWestport, Connecticut-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998: "René DescartesRené DescartesRené Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
", "Distinguishing Animal Rights from Animal Welfare", and "JainismJainismJainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
".