Ethics and/or Politics: Approaching the Issues Concerning Nonhuman Animals

This is an announcement, and call for abstracts, for the two-day international conference - ‘Ethics and/or Politics: Approaching the Issues Concerning Nonhuman Animals’ - to be held at the University of Birmingham on the 9th and 10th of April, 2015.

The conference is in association with, and supported by: the Society for Applied Philosophy, the Mind Association, the Aristotelian Society, and the University of Birmingham College of Arts and Law.

Guest speakers include:


  *   Gary Steiner                 (Bucknell University)
  *   Elisa Aaltola                  (University of Turku/University of Eastern Finland)
  *   Robert Garner              (University of Leicester)
  *   Tony Milligan                (University of Hertfordshire)
  *   Alasdair Cochrane         (University of Sheffield)
  *   Tatjana Visak               (Saarland University)
  *   Oscar Horta                 (University of Santiago de Compostela)
  *   Steve Cooke                (University of Sheffield)
  *   Kay Peggs                   (University of Portsmouth)

The recent turn in nonhuman ethics - from ethics to political theory - has raised many questions of how is best to approach theorizing about, and the most effective and convincing practical solutions regarding, nonhuman animals. At the same time individual issues in nonhuman ethics continue to be debated and increase in both social and political importance; yet the connection between the recent turn and these issues, and what the effects may be, remains untapped.

This conference shall consider this current political question in how nonhuman ethics ought to proceed and ask how this relates to practical issues within the area, and the effect it will have on society.

The conference will address (but is not limited to) issues such as:


  1.  'How we ought to intervene for nonhumans (peacefully, not at all, violently, and so on)' and whether the introduction of political/legal/ethical questions affects our conclusions on these matters.

  2.  ‘Whether concepts of personhood are adequate in nonhuman ethics when politics/law is introduced (e.g. companies and items can be legal persons, what effect does/should this have if we open the field)'.

  3.  Which approach ought we to take towards ‘animal ethics’ and its issues; ethics, politics, or both? Would the introduction of political and legal approaches affect our conclusions on the issues? (E.g. such as on ‘personhood’). If there are effects what would this mean for issues relating to humans (such as poverty, hunger, activism, and civil disobedience).

  4.  Other issues that relate to the theme (such as what the impact of this move/these questions could have on areas that concern humans; e.g. civil intervention, protest aims, hunger, etc).

  5.  Different approaches towards traditional problems (e.g. factory farming, experimentation, etc) and newer debates (e.g. in-vitro meat, debates on what to do about (and our relations with) wild and ‘liminal’ nonhumans, and questions about ‘living space’ (both within and without human habitation))

  6.  What the human relation with nonhumans is or should be, what this means for the human, what approach (ethics/politics, et al) would be more adequate for this, and what this means for ‘animal ethics’ and its issues (e.g. human relation to the biosphere and its implications).

The aim of the conference is to bring the 'political turn' question into relation with the issues, not just the general theory, and to apply them to actual, practical concerns that can be put forward for a real-world impact. The purpose of this is three-fold: (1) this link has yet to be explored, (2) such questions raise new and interesting avenues in the debates that will have a practical impact on the discipline and, hopefully, social aims, and (3) nonhuman issues, in current academia (at least in the UK) is often swept aside under current 'practical/economic concerns' - this conference aims to show that nonhuman ethics (and each discipline involved) has practical impact, interdisciplinary reach, and real-world relevance.

By drawing on interdisciplinary views the conference aims to move theorizing within the area forward while also providing insight into the most effective approach for both practical and theoretical issues, as well as providing further thought for research.

As the conference will be interdisciplinary, we especially welcome abstracts from philosophy, political sciences, law, and sociology.

As well as the above, some topics might include (though any other topic is welcomed):


  *   Humans as Animals
  *   The Importance speciesism/human chauvinism (etc) takes on with this change
  *   Rights
  *   Justice
  *   Activism

The conference is free and open to all – though registration via email confirming intent to attend will be required. Registration emails should be sent to: [email protected]

Further information will be released shortly, and all information will be available on the conference website (which will be online soon).


-Call for Abstracts-

Proposals for papers should be at maximum 500 words. Proposals should not indicate the author’s name as the selection process will be blind.

Accompanying the abstract should be a short biography, detailing status, name, institution, contact information, and the title of the abstract/proposed paper.

Abstracts should be sent in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.

The closing date for abstract submission is: 20th February 2015

Successful authors will be notified by: 24th February 2015

Abstracts must be sent electronically to: [email protected]

The successful papers will be allocated 30 minutes each for presentation.

For any information, please contact: Andrew Woodhall or Gabriel Garmendia da Trindade at any of the following email addresses:

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]