A Thinking Reed

  • WASM 6: Concluding thoughts

    (See previous posts: 1|2|3|4|5) So, what has Linzey accomplished here? What I think his argument does–at least–is shift the burden of proof. Most of us, if we’re being honest, believe that animals suffer and that their suffering matters morally, at least to some degree. Few non-sociopaths think that it’s a matter of sheer moral indifference…

  • Friday Metal: August Burns Red, “Meddler”

    Lancaster, Pa., represents! more about "Friday Metal: August Burns Red, “Medd…", posted with vodpod

  • Dept. of straw men (and other animals)

    Not that it will dissuade anyone, but Julian Sanchez points out the obvious: I know very many vegetarians and vegans. I do not think a single one of them..holds the view that “animals are morally equivalent to humans.” The “moral equivalence” line is a staple of anti-animal-rights rhetoric. This isn’t to deny that there are–somewhere–vegetarians/vegans/AR…

  • WASM 5: sed contra

    (See previous posts: 1|2|3|4) In addition to the critique of Peter Singer, Linzey’s final chapter in Why Animal Suffering Matters contains replies to six objections: 1. The practices of hunting, fur farming, and sealing are relatively trivial and non-controversial compared to issues like animal testing. Linzey acknowledges that practices like animal testing and factory farming…

  • WASM 4: Linzey vs. Singer

    (Previous posts are here, here, and here.) In his concluding chapter to Why Animal Suffering Matters, Linzey does address one of the concerns I raised in my previous post in the course of taking some pains to distinguish his program from that of utilitarians like Peter Singer. While appreciating Singer’s contribution to the cause of…

  • The introversion of the church

    I’m reading Lutheran biblical scholar/theologian Ernst Kasemann’s short book Jesus Means Freedom, and I thought this passage was particularly relevant to a lot of contemporary trends in Christianity, even though the book was published in the late ‘60s: The church as the real content of the gospel, its glory the boundless manifestation of the heavenly…

  • Bloggingheads theodicy

    Here’s an interesting “diavlog” on Leibniz and the problem of evil featuring philosophers Michael Murray and Jan Cover (who is a former professor of mine and a very cool guy). more about "Bloggingheads theodicy", posted with vodpod I’m not sure you’d say this makes for “fun” viewing: I have undying respect for Jan, but he’s…

  • This is your country on war

    I don’t usually describe things as “must read,” but this article on returning Iraq vets (via Jim Henley) surely qualifies.

  • WASM 3: The fox and the hound (and the mink and the seal)

    (See previous posts here and here.) In the central chapters (3-5) of Why Animal Suffering Matters, Linzey critically examines three practices: sport hunting (focusing on hunting with dogs in the UK); fur farming; and seal hunting, particularly the Candian seal hunt. I was surprised that there was no chapter on raising animals for food, since…

  • Democratizing the Fed

    I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have a particularly good grasp on the complex and recondite issues surrounding the Fed and monetary policy, but William Greider (who literally wrote the book on the Fed) lays out the case for making it more accountable and transparent in the latest Nation. Crucially, he says…