"Animal Rights July."

Every Wednesday evening in July 2009.
7.00 - 9.45pm.
Theatre ‘N’, Newman Building, U.C.D.
Admission (and food) is free.

·Week 1. July 1st.

The Animal Rights Debate: A Bill of Rights for Animals?

Although filmed in the late 1980s, this debate is still relevant today. Featuring professors Tom Regan, Richard Ryder, Andrew Linzey, Mary Warnock, Steven Rose and Germaine Greer, and with contribution from audience members, the debate explores issues such as the connection between human and nonhuman animal rights, rights-based thought and utilitarianism, and animal rights –v- animal welfarism.

·Week 2. July 8th.

HOME. A film released on World Environment Day, 2009.

“HOME is better by miles than Al Gore’s document, An Inconvenient Truth...There is explicit criticism of intensive agriculture and discussion about the inefficient use of resources (grains, water) used to produce meat. Although the film certainly does not advocate veganism, that is the logical implication of its message. As I have argued for longer than I care to remember, anyone who cares at all about the environment should be vegan even if she/he does not care about the moral issue involved in animal exploitation.” Gary Francione - http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/

· Week 3. July 15th.

A Cow at My Table.

This is an unusual and fascinating documentary about a journalist, Jennifer Abbot, who was arrested for filming a dead cow. A Cow at My Table features contributions from the author of The Case for Animal Rights, philosopher Tom Regan, representatives from the animal agriculture industry, animal welfare expert Dr. Ian Duncan, ex-rancher Howard Lyman, and ecofeminists Carol Adams and Vandana Shiva.

·KEYNOTE EVENT: Week 4. July 22nd.

The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?

Lecture by law professor and animal rights philosopher Gary L. Francione (live from the USA, via Skype).

Gary Francione is the leading exponent of the Abolitionist Approach to animal rights. His books, Animals, Property and The Law, Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement, Introduction to Animal Rights and Animals as Persons, explore his vision of animal rights. Francione argues for one right for nonhuman animals, the right not to be property. He is a critic of Peter Singer’s utilitarian philosophy which does not rule out all animal use and killing, and he objects to Tom Regan’s version of animal rights theory for its emphasis on nonhuman animals with sophisticated cognitive abilities. Francione's theory applies to all sentient beings.

·Week 5. July 29th.

Something a little different – Judge John Deed: “Everyone’s Child”.

In this episode of G.F. Newman’s drama, Deed’s daughter gets involved with demonstrations in support of an ‘animal rights hunger striker,’ while Deed decides the fate of a minor who has refused a heart transplant due to his adherence to the philosophy of vegan animal rights and the principles of nonviolence.