The Moral Lives of Animals

May 29, 2016

First Aired: September 15, 2013

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From Aristotle and Kant to Hume and Darwin, philosophers and scientists have long denied the idea that animals are capable of acting for moral reasons. Yet empirical evidence suggests that many animals have rich emotional lives, and some even demonstrate distinctly altruistic or empathetic behavior. So how should we interpret this behavior? Do the moral feelings of animals suggest they are capable of responding to moral reasons? Or do they lack the cognitive capacity necessary for being truly moral? John and Ken examine their animal nature with Mark Rowlands from the University of Miami, author of Can Animals Be Moral?

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Guest

Mark Rowlands, Professor of Philosophy, University of Miami

Related Blogs

The Moral Lives of Animals
May 26, 2016

Related Resources

Books

Bekoff, Marc and Jessica Pierce (2010). Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals. ISBN: 0226041638.

Churchland, Patricia (2012). Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us abouot Morality. ISBN: 9780691156347.

Dixon, B.A. (2008). Animals, Emotion, and Morality: Marking the Boundary. ISBN: 1591026296.

Peterson, Dale (2011). The Moral Lives of Animals. ISBN: 1596914246.

Rowlands, Mark (2012). Can Animals Be Moral? ISBN: 0199842000.

Web Resources

Churchland, Patricia (2013). “Is the Human Mind Unique?: Moral Sense.” Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny.

Gruen, Lori (2010). “The Moral Status of Animals.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Guldberg, Helene (2011). “Only Humans Have Morality, Not Animals.” Psychology Today.

Rowlands, Mark (2012). “The kindness of beasts.” Aeon Magazine.

De Waal, Frans (2012). “Moral behavior in animals.” TED Talks.

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