Ronald Sandler on Ethics & Species
On this episode of Free Range, Mike Livermore speaks with Ronald Sandler, a Professor of Philosophy at Northeastern University. Sandler writes on environmental ethics, emerging technologies, and ethical issues surrounding climate change, food, and species conservation. In this episode, Sandler discusses species conservation while tackling the question of whether conservation law and policy, such as the Endangered Species Act, is too species oriented.
Episode is an appropriate teaching tool for but not limited to the following topics & courses: environmental ethics, animal ethics, animal law, conservation law, species conservation
Discussion Questions
- What role can philosophy and the humanities play in informing scientific questions around issues like climate change and conservation? Where do values enter the picture?
- What makes causing the extinction of a species morally different than killing a number of individuals of a common species?
- What are some key distinctions between different types of value (instrumental, final, subjective, objective) when considering the value of species?
- Should environmental law and policy seek to address threats beyond just species extinction like biological depletion? What other focuses might be warranted?
- How should we evaluate proposals to intervene in nature to try to reduce wild animal suffering, like by feeding predators alternative diets?
- How is the situatedness of humans relevant for determining ethical obligations across contexts like domestic animals versus obligations to wild animals?
- What considerations should guide judgments over what amount of natural resources humans can or should use versus leaving available for nonhuman species?
- Why is reducing the human share of planetary resources seen as crucial for avoiding mass species extinction in the 21st century? What is driving extinction risks?
- In what ways might conceptions of human flourishing need to change to enable ecological flourishing? What examples help illustrate this?
- Should threats related to overpopulation be addressed indirectly rather than through direct population control measures? What potential win-wins exist in this domain?
- How might insights from environmental philosophy help shape the development of environmental law and policy? What connections seem salient?
- What perspectives or arguments around conservation ethics and values emerged from the discussion that you found novel or noteworthy? In what ways might these perspectives influence your own thinking?
Additional Readings
- Ronald Sander, On the Massness of Mass Extinction, Philosophia 50 (5):2205-2220 (2021).
- Ronald Sandler, The Ethics of Reviving Long Extinct Species, Conservation Biology, Vol. 28, No. 2 (April 2014), pp. 354-360.
- Sandler, Ronald, “Who Benefits from Heroic Attempts to Save Species?,” humansandnature.com (Feb. 11, 2015).
- Tyler Cowen, Policing Nature, Environmental Ethics 25 (2):169-182 (2003).
- Peter Singer, All Animals Are Equal, In TOM REGAN & PETER SINGER (eds.), Animal Rights and Human Obligations. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1989, pp. 148-. 162.
- Marchese, David, “Do Humans Owe Animals Equal Rights? Martha Nussbaum Thinks So.,” New York Times (Dec. 6, 2022).
- Kyle Johanson, Animal Rights and the Problem of r-Strategists, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 20 (2):333-45 (2017).
- Thaddeus R. Miller, Ben A. Minteer, & Leon C. Malan, The New Conservation Debate: The View from Practical Ethics, Biological Conservation, Vol. 144(3), pp. 948-957 (2011).
- The New Conservation Debate: the View from Practical Ethics
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