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Martha Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, with appointments in the Department of Philosophy and the Law School. Martha is among the most recognized philosophers today. Over the course of her career, she has made numerous major contributions to ancient philosophy, ethics, political philosophy, the philosophy of law, and other areas. Martha’s most recent book is Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility (Simon & Schuster, 2023). In this episode, Robinson and Martha discuss some of her contributions to animal ethics both in philosophy and law. More particularly, they touch on philosophical conceptions of justice, various approaches to animal ethics—such as utilitarianism and Kantianism—the Capabilities Approach to freedom and justice, and how people ought to think about eating meat.

Justice for Animals: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JPHCKLJ

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

02:08 Martha’s Interest in Justice for Animals

8:15 Justice and Flourishing Lives

16:31 Recognizing Injustice for Animals

29:54 What Is the Scala Naturae?

42:28 Utilitarianism

52:28 The Capabilities Approach 

1:15:39 Is Meat-Eating Ever Ethical?

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.