Overlap with concept of speciesism
The belief that there is an impassable divide between humankind and all other life
Unquestioned assumption underlying much thought in our society
Philosophical underpinnings of our society largely ignored
"...a prejudice or bias in favour of the interests of members of one's own species and against those of members of other species" Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, 1975
Come to have a wider connotation, such as the difference in treatment we require of pets and farm animals
For example pigs are allowed to be kept in a concrete floored sheds in their own filth legally, however domestic dogs have great protections. This despite evidence showing that pigs have a higher order of intelligence
The real "creation" story...
Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago
Life began as early as 3.7 billion years ago
Current estimates are 8.7 million species
Mammals 320 million years ago
Primates 85 million years ago
Humans and chimpanzees separated 7.5 million years ago
Homo sapiens somewhere between 250000 - 400000 years ago
Humans have existed for less than 1% of 1% of the journey of life
Extinction of species at least 1000 times the "natural" rate
Quarter of all remaining mammals at risk of extinction
Less than 10% of large fish remain in oceans compared to 1950 levels
Loss of 50% of all vertebrate wildlife in last 50 years
Using resources of 1.5 planets every year
"Current rates of extinction are about 1000 times the likely background rate of extinction" - The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection, Science 30 May, 2014
"Of the 5,487 mammal species assessed, nearly one-quarter of species (22.2 %) are globally threatened or extinct, representing 1,219 species" - IUCN Red List 2016
"we estimate that large predatory fish biomass today is only about 10% of pre-industrial levels" - Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities, Ransom A. Myers & Boris Worm, Nature 15 May 2003
"humanity’s demand on nature has exceeded what our planet can replenish. We would need the regenerative capacity of 1.5 Earths to provide the ecological services we currently use"
"in less than two human generations, population sizes of vertebrate species have dropped by half"
- Living Planet Report 2014 - WWF, Zoological Society of London, Global Footprint Network, Water Footprint Network
56 billion farm animals imprisoned and slaughtered each year
Untold numbers of sea creatures, much of it "by-catch" - only counted in tonnage
We kill more animals every day than humans who were killed in all wars of the entire 20th century
Branding, dehorning, castrating, tail docking, debeaking, all routine
~200 million animals used in experiments worldwide
Mass refusal to acknowledge the problem or even engage with issue
56 billion animals - FAO Stats 2009
1 - 3 trillion wild fish - Fish Count 2016
Cattle treatment in Australia, see Meat and Livestock Australia
"We can only estimate the number of vertebrate animals used in experiments worldwide because not all experiments on vertebrate species are recorded in all countries. However, it is believed that around 200 million vertebrate animals are used for scientific experiments each year." frame.org.uk
The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global - UN FAO, 2006
30% of the earth's entire land surface dedicated to livestock
Percentage in Australia slightly higher
30% of Earth's arable land dedicated to livestock feed
Overpopulation - More cattle, and 3.5 times more sheep and lambs than people in Australia
Land surface and arable land from Livestock's Long Shadow, FAO 2006
Cattle numbers from Meat and Livestock Australia
Other Australian statistics from Australian Bureau of Statistics, Land Use and Livestock sections, 2009-2010
The earth and everything in it created for humans
Human life is either the highest, or the only meaningful life
Only humans have an immortal soul or human males are the highest form of perceptible life
Earth is just a staging ground for the "true" reality in the after life
God being all powerful controls all things
"Three focus groups held with Muslim, Christian and Secular participants...Beliefs in divine intervention and afterlife reduce perceived climate change risk" - The impact of religious faith on attitudes to environmental issues and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies: A mixed methods study. Aimie L.B. Hope, , Christopher R. Jones
"Our results show that members of Judeo-Christian traditions are less concerned about environmental protection than their nonreligious peers, and that religiosity somewhat intensifies these relationships for evangelical Protestants, Catholics, and mainline Protestants" - The Role of Religion in Environmental Attitudes, Matthew B. Arbuckle1,* andDavid M. Konisky2
"Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Genesis 1:26
"The head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man" Corinthians 11:3
Repeated that faith is more important than works. Romans 3:28, 5:1, 4:1-5 etc.
Heaven and hell destination for all - Mathew 25:31 - 25:36, Luke 13:23-28
Animal sacrifice still practised. On the Haj each pilgrim required to sacrifice a goat, cow or camel
"The Earth is green and beautiful, and Allah has appointed you his stewards over it" - Hadith
"Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other" - Quran 4:34
"those who believe and do good deeds, they are dwellers of Paradise, they dwell therein forever" - Quran 2:82
Christian creation story taken from Judaism, earth is mans dominion
Humans created in the image of god
Idea of Elam Ha-ha (the world-to-come) which the righteous will be resurrected in not clear, most believe it to be another realm similar to concepts of heaven
Life release, involves often buying an animal destined to be slaughtered and releasing it
6 realms, in which humans inhabit the second highest
Many schools consider reality to be something of a dream
The real sky is (knowing) that samsara and nirvana are merely an illusory display — Mipham Rinpoche
Nirvana - final state "it is recognized that there is nothing but what is seen of the mind itself" - Surangama Sutra
Animal sacrifice still common, though not as common as in ancient times
Reality an illusion, a staging ground for karma and rebirth
Ultimate reality is moksha, union with Brahma
Whilst a civilising influence, has not led to a consistent dramatic change in values
Killing god brought us little closer to other species
Athiests have maintained many of the core concepts of religion
Human life still generally considered the only meaningful life
Meat consumption not strongly correlated with religiosity
Eg Denmark one of the least religious countries in the world, also has one of the highest levels of meat consumption - Religiosity Highest in World's Poorest Nations, Gallup 2010; Current Worldwide Annual Meat Consumption per capita. FAO 2013
Factory farms common in countries with both high and low levels of religiosity
Environmental footprint follows income more closely than attitudes
Scientific method our best tool for understanding reality but...
Human exceptionalism in much of science resembles religious ideas
Obsession with the separation of humans from all other animals
Hubris - often an inability to understand its own limitations
Glossing over of the huge environmental problems it has caused
Historical indifference to the interests of other life
Believing we have ownership of the world allows us to act selfishly
Psychological status pay off in unquestioned superiority
Simplifies world view, us and them - "What men really want is not knowledge, but certainty", Bertrand Russell
Named ourselves the "thinking" or "wise" ape, however evidence for this from our actions inconclusive
Many individual counter examples, but taken together as a species, humans destructive, selfish and short sighted
Appear to be an instinctive intricate being, rather than a reasoned philosophical one
Have the ability to think at a high level, so there remains hope if it can be fostered
Motivation is key, and the general primary motivators are status, happiness and the sex drive
Status needs to be moved away from wealth, power and competitiveness, to traits we want to encourage, contributions, selflessness and cooperation
Sex drive needs to be reoriented from repressed shallow rewards based system, to one which helps free us emotionally
Happiness based on selfish consumption tried for decades, perhaps centuries and failed
Studies appear to show happiness based on good works, community, health and perspective change offer hope
Freud's basic analysis that we are motivated by the sex drive and need to be important are consistent with evolutionary theory
GDP growth more than doubled 1950-2000 - Australia's century since federation at a glance, Australia Government, Treasury
The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness - Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco working paper May 2009
American's average buying power has almost tripled since the 1950s, while reported happiness has remained almost unchanged. (Happiness data from National Opinion Research Center General Social Survey; income data from Historical Statistics of the United States and Economic Indicators.)
The Skill of Happiness By Matthieu Ricard
We are stuck in a pre darwinian conception of our place in nature
Darwin unfolded our creation story and showed that all beings were inter-related
We share around 50% of our genetic makeup with plants, 99% with bonobos and chimpanzees
Our treatment of other animals ignores how much of ourselves is reflected in them
We share DNA remnants from at least two other hominin ancestors, neanderthal and denisova
Zulu concept of "ubuntu" - I am because you are
Taking individual responsibility - Libertarian Socialism
Deep ecology based on empiricism
Rational humanism
Categorical imperative
Peter Singer - Animal Liberation and Effective Altruism
Competitive society offers happiness only for those who perceive themselves as winners
We are formed in opposition to the rest of reality
Happiness probably best achieved in a society which is conducive to it
Also called anarchism, though other schools of anarchism
Freedom for all only possible if correlated with increasing concern for each other
Worker self management
Social structure without hierarchy
Individual responsibility
"It's not the world which needs to be anarchist, just myself"
Counter to early environmental movement that preserved nature as something useful or desirable to humans
All creatures have a right to be
Human destruction of the ecosphere is a crime against all other life
Wild Law a compatible framework
Basing knowledge on the senses
Evidence and experience over logic and intuition
Assumptions about reality need to be tested
Acknowledges truth often counter intuitive
Concerned with human potential and flourishing
Rationalism and empiricism over dogma and superstition
Secular, science based view of the world
Poorly named, and does suffer from human exceptionalism
Immanuel Kant
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.
Useful guide to contemplating the morality of our actions
Has implications for the environment, human welfare and many other fields
Ultimately we must become self limiting
Written by Peter Singer in 1975
Explains the cruelty inherent in the farming and experimentation industries and asks us to boycott them
Now an Australian wide movement advocating for animals
Movement largely vegan but not exclusively so
Read more at http://alq.org.au
Much charitable given motivated by instinctive reactions
Complex worldwide problems required greater thought
Utilitarian concept of how each of us can do the greatest good
Charity evaluation to see which charity helps the most for a given donation