This is my introductory post for Ethics and Animals, Spring 2013.
Hello, fellow MCLA bloggers, and anyone who happens across this blog by chance. My name is Avery Finnivan. I am a sophomore at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. I am majoring in philosophy, with minors in English (concentration in journalism) and arts management. My non-academic interests include Uechi-ryu karate, reading, playing the harp and guitar (and assorted other instruments in which I have little skill), and philosophizing for fun with friends. In the past, I have only encountered questions of animal ethics in academic settings, with the exception of the idea of vegetarianism. I am an almost-vegetarian at the moment; I sporadically eat shellfish, due to their lack of sentience, and so am technically a pescetarian. Philosophically and religiously, I call myself an agnostic and a fallibilist who conceals his fallibilism under a thick veneer of realism. I very much look forward to reading my fellow blogger's contributions over the course of this semester, and also welcome any comments (from fellow bloggers or random other people) or questions. If a comment sparks a debate, so much the better! Philosophy is fun.
Philosophy IS fun! I also eat shellfish but I still call myself vegetarian; my friends sometimes call me out for it but I think people generally accept that it is valid to still call oneself vegetarian if doing so for moral reasons based on the sentience of animals.
ReplyDeleteCompletely Unrelated: I didn't know you practice Ueichi-ryu! Where do you practice? I participate in Elm Street Martial Arts in Pittsfield under Sensei Lisken and Rob! I also do kobudo there.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, it will be an interesting class and I look forward to gaining the confidance to comment on people's ideas :D