What We Owe Owls. Nonideal Relationality among Fellow Creatures in the Old Growth Forest
Though many of us have constructed our lives (or have had them constructed for us) such that it is easy to ignore or forget, human lives are entangled with other animals in many ways. Some interspecies relations would arguably exist in some form or another even under an ideal model of animal ethics....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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LED Edizioni Universitarie
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Relations |
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| Online Access: | https://www.ledonline.it/index.php/Relations/article/view/3183 |
| _version_ | 1797943380718649344 |
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| author | Ben Almassi |
| author_facet | Ben Almassi |
| author_sort | Ben Almassi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Though many of us have constructed our lives (or have had them constructed for us) such that it is easy to ignore or forget, human lives are entangled with other animals in many ways. Some interspecies relations would arguably exist in some form or another even under an ideal model of animal ethics. Others have an inescapably non-ideal character – these relationships exist as they do because things have gone wrong. In such circumstances we have reparative duties to animals we have wronged because we have wronged them. Here I draw upon Christine Korsgaard’s “Fellow Creatures” (2018) and other nonideal approaches to animal ethics to critically assess the United States Fish & Wildlife Service practice of killing barred owls to protect endangered spotted owls in the old growth forest of the Pacific Northwest. This is a difficult case to be sure, but one that can benefit from non-ideal moral assessment in terms of interspecies relational repair. I argue for increased spotted owl habitat preservation and forest restoration as an alternative to barred owl removal that better aligns with both nonideal relational animal ethics and stated US Fish & Wildlife Service values. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:22:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7fb25e712a5243659060cf29c29cfe63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2283-3196 2280-9643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:22:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | LED Edizioni Universitarie |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Relations |
| spelling | doaj.art-7fb25e712a5243659060cf29c29cfe632023-01-25T14:42:47ZengLED Edizioni UniversitarieRelations2283-31962280-96432023-01-0110292110.7358/rela-2022-02-almb1674What We Owe Owls. Nonideal Relationality among Fellow Creatures in the Old Growth ForestBen Almassi0Governors State UniversityThough many of us have constructed our lives (or have had them constructed for us) such that it is easy to ignore or forget, human lives are entangled with other animals in many ways. Some interspecies relations would arguably exist in some form or another even under an ideal model of animal ethics. Others have an inescapably non-ideal character – these relationships exist as they do because things have gone wrong. In such circumstances we have reparative duties to animals we have wronged because we have wronged them. Here I draw upon Christine Korsgaard’s “Fellow Creatures” (2018) and other nonideal approaches to animal ethics to critically assess the United States Fish & Wildlife Service practice of killing barred owls to protect endangered spotted owls in the old growth forest of the Pacific Northwest. This is a difficult case to be sure, but one that can benefit from non-ideal moral assessment in terms of interspecies relational repair. I argue for increased spotted owl habitat preservation and forest restoration as an alternative to barred owl removal that better aligns with both nonideal relational animal ethics and stated US Fish & Wildlife Service values.https://www.ledonline.it/index.php/Relations/article/view/3183animal ethicschristine korsgaardendangered speciesenvironmental ethicsinterspecies relationalityold growth forestowlsreparative justiceresource managementwildlife biology. |
| spellingShingle | Ben Almassi What We Owe Owls. Nonideal Relationality among Fellow Creatures in the Old Growth Forest Relations animal ethics christine korsgaard endangered species environmental ethics interspecies relationality old growth forest owls reparative justice resource management wildlife biology. |
| title | What We Owe Owls. Nonideal Relationality among Fellow Creatures in the Old Growth Forest |
| title_full | What We Owe Owls. Nonideal Relationality among Fellow Creatures in the Old Growth Forest |
| title_fullStr | What We Owe Owls. Nonideal Relationality among Fellow Creatures in the Old Growth Forest |
| title_full_unstemmed | What We Owe Owls. Nonideal Relationality among Fellow Creatures in the Old Growth Forest |
| title_short | What We Owe Owls. Nonideal Relationality among Fellow Creatures in the Old Growth Forest |
| title_sort | what we owe owls nonideal relationality among fellow creatures in the old growth forest |
| topic | animal ethics christine korsgaard endangered species environmental ethics interspecies relationality old growth forest owls reparative justice resource management wildlife biology. |
| url | https://www.ledonline.it/index.php/Relations/article/view/3183 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT benalmassi whatweoweowlsnonidealrelationalityamongfellowcreaturesintheoldgrowthforest |