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1

Towards a Non-human Speciophilosophy

100%

Giannetto E.

Ethics in Progress

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2020

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vol. 11

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issue 2

9-30

EN

After the publication of Jaques Derrida’s book, L’animal que donc je suis, anti-speciesism has been looking for a theoretical foundation for its ethical content. In my opinion, the defect of all these philosophical perspectives is that they still reduce animals to objects of human philosophy. Here, I develop a new framework in which animals are considered as subjects of their own philosophy. In analogy to the concept of ethnophilosophy, the concept of speciophilosophy is here introduced (§ 1, §3). The different ways of thinking between humans and other animals are outlined, by explaining the difference between verbal reasoning and thinking through images (§ 2). Human philosophies are shown to be anthropocentric ideologies, related to carnivorism (§4, § 8). Subsequently, animal speciophilosophies are discussed (§6) and a dialogical symphilosophein (§ 5) among all living beings is proposed to be the extension of the so-called philosophy of dialogue. Finally, it is shown how this perspective was present in the original Christian ethics (§7, §9, § 10).

2

The Biblical Word of Animals

80%

Wajda A. M.

Ruch Biblijny i Liturgiczny

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2013

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vol. 66

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issue 4

PL

Liczne wzmianki o zwierzętach na kartach Biblii są potwierdzeniem dobrej znajomości świata przyrody przez autorów natchnionych. W odniesieniu do obowiązującej obecnie klasyfikacji organizmów żywych i metod badawczych, jakimi posługuje się współczesna zoologia, nie mają one charakteru dociekań naukowych. Świadczą natomiast o umiejętności wnikliwej obserwacji zwierząt, czego wyrazem jest nie tylko znajomość wyglądu przedstawicieli poszczególnych gatunków, ale także specyficznych zachowań związanych ze sposobem ich życia. Dotyczy to nie tylko zwierząt udomowionych i hodowanych przez człowieka w celu pozyskania mięsa, mleka, skór oraz siły roboczej, ale i dzikich reprezentantów świata fauny. Biblijne wzmianki o tych ostatnich odnoszą się do gatunków postrzeganych jako szczególnie niebezpieczne dla człowieka i zwierząt domowych, do których zaliczyć należy lwy, wilki, niedźwiedzie, lamparty czy węże. Wśród biblijnych dzikich zwierząt są również takie, które swym wyglądem i zręcznością budziły podziw, czego przykładem są odniesienia do gazeli, jeleni, koziorożców, a nawet gołębi. Równocześnie należy podkreślić, że ten bogaty świat zwierzęcy jest jedynie barwnym tłem dla biblijnej historii zbawienia oraz narzędziem pomocnym w przekładaniu orędzia Boga na język ludzki. Dlatego poznanie znaczenia i symboliki zwierząt pojawiających się na kartach Pisma Świętego pozwala współczesnemu człowiekowi lepiej zrozumieć perykopy biblijne, w których są one przywoływane.

EN

Numerous references to animals in the Bible show that biblical authors had a broad knowledge of nature. According to the current classification of living organisms and method of research used by modern zoology, it is stated that these observations do not have the characteristics of scientific research. In spite of this, they are the evidence of the clear-sighted observation of animals, which is reflected not only in the knowledge of the appearance of individual species, but also of specific behaviours related to their way of life. It concerns not only domestic animals, raised for the purpose of gaining meat, fur, hide and labour, but also wild representatives of the fauna. Bible references concerning the latter apply to the species perceived as highly dangerous to man and domestic animals, i.e.: lions, wolves, bears, leopards or snakes. Amongst the Bible animals one can distinguish these which aroused admiration because of their appearance, such as gazelle, deer, ibex or dove. At the same time, it is essential to emphasise the fact that this rich animal world is just a vivid background of the biblical story of Salvation and a tool used to translate God’s address into human language. For this reason, the knowledge of animal symbolism in the Sacred Scripture makes more accurate understanding of the pericopes possible.

3

Metaphorizing the Holocaust: The Ethics of Comparison

61%

Webber M.

Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication

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2011

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vol. 8

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issue 15-16

1-30

EN

Metaphorizing the Holocaust: The Ethics of Comparison This paper focuses on the ethics of metaphor and other forms of comparison that invoke National Socialism and the Holocaust. It seeks to answer the question: Are there criteria on the basis of which we can judge whether metaphors and associated tropes “use” the Holocaust appropriately? In analyzing the thrust and workings of such comparisons, the paper also seeks to identify and clarify the terminology and concepts that allow productive discussion. In line with its conception of metaphor that is also rhetorical praxis, the paper focuses on specific controversies involving the metaphorization of the Holocaust, primarily in Germany and Austria. The paper develops its argument through the following process. First, it examines the rhetorical/political contexts in which claims of the Holocaust’s comparability (or incomparability) have been raised. Second, it presents a review (and view) of the nature of metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche. It applies this framework to (a) comparisons of Saddam Hussein with Hitler in Germany in 1991; (b) the controversies surrounding the 2004 poster exhibition “The Holocaust on Your Plate” in Germany and Austria, with particular emphasis on the arguments and decisions in cases before the courts in those countries; and (c) the invocation of “Auschwitz” as metonym and synecdoche. These examples provide the basis for a discussion of the ethics of comparison. In its third and final section the paper argues that metaphor is by nature duplicitous, but that ethical practice involving Holocaust comparisons is possible if one is self-aware and sensitive to the necessity of seeing the “other” as oneself. The ethical framework proposed by the paper provides the basis for evaluationg the specific cases adduced.

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1 Ethics in Progress

1 Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication

1 Ruch Biblijny i Liturgiczny

1 Giannetto E.

1 Wajda A. M.

1 Webber M.

1 2020

1 2013

1 2011

Towards a Non-human Speciophilosophy

The Biblical Word of Animals

Metaphorizing the Holocaust: The Ethics of Comparison