Elan is a cultural anthropologist focusing on human-animal interactions, environmental justice, and food politics. He is assistant professor of the practice in environmental studies and coordinator of the animal studies minor at Wesleyan University. He is the author of the Gregory Bateson Prize winning book: "Saving Animals: Multispecies Ecologies of Rescue and Care". He also contributed a chapter called "The Empty Promises of Cultured Meat" to the book "The Good it Promises, the Harm It Does: Critical Essays on Effective Altruism".
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?”
Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.
We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
01:25 Elan's Intro
- Cultural anthropology and teaching animal studies "my favourite thing to teach!"
- Appearing on Knowing Animals & Our Hen House
- Working with Kathryn Gillespie
02:42 What's Real?
- Raised mostly #secular
- Dad believed in #reincarnation
- At 12yrs old becoming aware of major religions & thinking "probably none of them are right"
- "Materialist with a small 'm', empiricist with a small 'e'"
- "Probably when we die, we die... that just makes our lives more poignant & important"
- Being given a bible stories book by a #jehovahswitness "this god person is really cruel... like a villain"
- "Reassuring in a humbling kind of way... I'm a tiny part of this vast universe... we're no less important for that"
- "Mildly #agnostic... I know that I don't know"
- Not spiritual but "a certain sense of wonder"
- An #ayahuasca retreat. Most others talked of "spiritual" experiences. "I felt pretty in touch with the particles of the universe... I don't have any anthropomorphic encounters to explain I just felt deeply in touch with creation and appreciative that I'm a part of it... that went down like a lead balloon."
- Ego dissolution... "the seed of #sentience ... that I share... with other animals"
17:00 What Matters?
- #comics : "#spiderman was my favourite super-hero... with great power comes great responsibility" (vs. #judgedredd and "law and order" :) )
- "We have an obligation to help each other when we can"
- Fairness: "Some people's extra benefit isn't really worth anybody else's suffering"
- "I don't have a #utilitarianism perspective of maximising pleasure... but for each individual who experiences the world they deserve to have minimal suffering & maximal enjoyment of life"
- Understanding bad actions that may be a response to trauma or desperation - not bad ethics
- "An openness to understanding what might be motivating people even in conflicts"
- Neil Levy: "Why bad beliefs happen to good people"
- Peter Singer
- Ethical pluralism: #care/#virtue/#deontological/relational ethics as long as all sentient beings get to count "that's exactly right"
- #elonmusk & the ethics of self-driving cars "it's deeply flawed if you can take individual lives & throw them away without their consent because you think it will actually benefit more people in the long run"
- #consequentialism
- Risks of utilitarianism: aggregating, offsetting, replacement, maximisation, ends justifying means, epistemic / ethical uncertainty & risk
26:21 Who Matters?
- Beyond #anthropocentrism
- Growing up "having relationships with members of other species"
49:43 How To Make a Better Future?
...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.
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--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sentientism/messageCheese Challenge & Pescetarian Paradox - Maja Cullen, Devon Docherty, Carol Jasper - Sentientism 200
"Reductionism is well-named. It reduces what you can do." - Michael Levin - Sentientism 199
"We need to imagine a different world" - Emilia Leese - author and host of Think Like a Vegan - Sentientism 198
Hip Hop is Going Green - Keith Tucker of Hip Hop is Green - Sentientism 197
Nigerian Food Revolution - Hakeem Jimo of Veggie Victory and ProVeg Nigeria - Sentientism 196
Consciousness Live! - with skateboarding philosopher Richard Brown - Sentientism 195
A Truly Humane Education - Laura Chepner - The Vegan Society's Education Officer - Sentientism 194
Imagining Ethical Schools - Sentientism 193
Is Veganic the Future of Farming? "We grow plants using plants" - Jimmy Videle - Sentientism 192
Half-Earth Socialism - Troy Vettese - Sentientism 191
"Your Neighbour Kills Puppies" - Tom Harris - Activist, Artist & Author - Sentientism 190
"A new world of animal justice" - Sabine Brels of World Animal Justice - Sentientism 189
Talking to Humanists about Sentientism - Cross-post bonus from Podcast for Inquiry - Sentientism 188
"What if we saw ourselves as species diplomats?" - David Peña-Guzmán of Overthink and SFSU - Sentientism 187
Could animal farming be good for the animals? The Logic of the Larder - with Nick Pendergrast - Cross-post bonus episode from 3CR's Freedom of Species radio show and podcast - Sentientism 186
"If you combine rationality and compassion you have the essence" - Jonathan Leighton of OPIS - Sentientism 185
Is veganism a moral obligation? Ghostless Machine cross-post bonus - Sentientism 184
Don't underestimate your influence! - Chris Bryant of Bryant Research - Sentientism 183
160: "Mother Cow, Mother India" - Yamini Narayanan - International Development A/Prof - Sentientism
Waking Cosmos - a cross-post bonus episode - Sentientism 182
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