Key Information
About the content
Why do many of us who eat pigs condemn those who eat dogs? Is there any difference between lab mice and companion hamsters that justify the use of the former for drug tests? Our attitude toward animals is full of seeming inconsistencies and unexplained conventions. Animal ethics is the field that tries to make sense of human-animal relationships using insights from philosophical ethics, and this course is an introduction to the field.
This course has several distinctive characteristics from other animal ethics education materials. First, this course uses situations of animals in Japan as illustrative cases, which makes this course as a means to learn something about Japanese culture. Second, it also uses Manga to think about actual situations.
By listeningto the lectures and thinking through the issues presented, you will acquire the ability to think more clearly and systematically about human-animal relationships.
Topics include:
- Training of companion animals
- Neutering of companion animals
- Animal experimentation for cosmetics
- Eating farm animals
- Environmental enrichment in zoos
- Systematic thinking about ethical issues related to human-animal relationship
- Basic principles for the treatment of companion animals
- The idea of animal welfare and its application for animal experimentation
- Controversies over farm animals
- Controversies over zoo animals
- Philosophical debate over speciesism and animal rights
Syllabus
Week 1: Training of Companion Animals
- What is Animal Ethics?
- Companion Animals
- Problem Behaviors of Companion Animals
- Is it Egotistical to Make Animals Obey?
Week 2: Neutering of Companion Animals
- Background of Slaughtering System of Companion Animals in Japan
- The Current State of the Slaughtering System
- Neutering Companion Animals
- Pros and Cons of Neutering Animals
Week 3: Animal Experimentation for Cosmetics
- Current Status of Animal Testing in Japan
- The 3R movement
- Ban of Animal Testing for Cosmetics in Europe
- Are Animal Test Regulations Necessary?
Week 4: Eating farm animals
- Intensive Livestock Industry in Japan
- “Five Freedoms” of livestock animals
- Vegetarianism
- Farm animals and lab animals: are they different?
- Does Being Thankful Mean We can Do Whatever We Want?
Week 5: Environmental Enrichment in Zoos
- Zoos in Japan
- Display Animals and Environmental Enrichment
- Animal Rights and Confinement of Animals
- Are Great Apes Different?
- Being Consistent about Treatment of Various Animals
Instructors
Tetsuji Iseda
Professor of Philosophy and History of Science
Kyoto University
Content Designer
Platform
Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley, are just some of the schools that you have at your fingertips with EdX. Through massive open online courses (MOOCs) from the world's best universities, you can develop your knowledge in literature, math, history, food and nutrition, and more. These online classes are taught by highly-regarded experts in the field. If you take a class on computer science through Harvard, you may be taught by David J. Malan, a senior lecturer on computer science at Harvard University for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. But there's not just one professor - you have access to the entire teaching staff, allowing you to receive feedback on assignments straight from the experts. Pursue a Verified Certificate to document your achievements and use your coursework for job and school applications, promotions, and more. EdX also works with top universities to conduct research, allowing them to learn more about learning. Using their findings, edX is able to provide students with the best and most effective courses, constantly enhancing the student experience.
