Animal Cruelty Assailed in Panel

As challenging as it may seem to apply ethical standards to animal practices, one professor sees a simple solution: enforce the law.

“There is a real gap in the laws governing animal rights,” Cass R. Sunstein ’75, Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Chicago Law School, said before a packed audience in Sever Hall last night.

Sunstein, part of a panel of philosophers and legal scholars addressing the intersection of ethics and the treatment of animals, argued that animal cruelty would continue to persist unless individuals and society chose to lead alternative lifestyles.

During the event, “Facing Animals,” the panelists told the crowd of more than 150 that ways to make a difference in the area included putting an end to greyhound racing, eating meat, and cosmetic testing.

Sunstein also recommended that hunting be banned if “there isn’t any other purpose except for sport or game.”

“Scientists are exempted from cruelty laws, and in hunting, hunters are almost always excluded from anti-cruelty laws,” Sunstein said.

Animal cruelty laws show that there is a consensus among the public that animals should not be subjected to torture or intense pain, according to Sunstein.

But Porter Professor of Philosophy Christine M. Korsgaard, who has given a series of lectures on humans’ duties to animals, told the crowd that part of the reason why animal cruelty has not received significant attention is because unethical practices have been ingrained in our daily culture.

“Cruelty to animals is built into the fabric of our lives,” she said. “It’s built into our language, just as sexism is.”

While Korsgaard acknowledged that it is difficult to avoid compromising ethical standards, she said that individual action was an important step forward, pointing out that “delicious cuisines for vegetarians are available.”

The panel also said that change could begin in the classroom.

“If I were a Harvard student today, I would seriously consider taking up ethics and animals as an area of study, independent research, or thesis,” said Patricia Herzog, a former professor at Brandeis University.

The discussion was intended to present a critical look at how humans perceive themselves in relation to animals, and what they can do to ethically treat animals.

Panelists also criticized the argument that humans should be held to a different standard from animals. Martha C. Nussbaum, a visiting professor of law from the University of Chicago, pointed to recent research that indicated that elephants, like humans, have self-recognition.

“Each type of animal has its own complexity, each type has its own story,” Nussbaum said.

—Staff writer Kevin Zhou can be reached at kzhou@fas.harvard.edu