October 25 Colloquia: "The Philosophy of Animal Rights, Religion, & the Law"

Abstract: Some philosophers and legal experts have argued that ethical veganism satisfies the “definition” of religion under U.S. law and that ethical vegans are thus entitled to religious protection under the First Amendment and U.S. discrimination laws. One compelling objection is that ethical veganism concerns an “isolated teaching,” and thus is not “comprehensive” enough to count as a religion, at least for First Amendment purposes. In this paper, I argue that there is a set of beliefs that underlies ethical veganism that qualifies as religious according to even the most “demanding” religious inclusion “tests” used in modern U.S. law: the Philosophy of Animal Rights. In particular, I argue that, like most established religions, the Philosophy of Animal Rights is a comprehensive set of ultimate, metaphysical, and moral beliefs. And, like most established religions (and unlike other secular ethical theories), a number of external and formal signs are present alongside it. So, while ethical veganism may not itself pass the more demanding legal “tests” of religion, it nevertheless is often a religious practice.

Speaker Bio: Cheryl Abbate is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas who specializes in theoretical and applied ethics, especially animal ethics. She created and teaches UNLV’s first animal-ethics course, which has a service-learning component. She has published over 30 academic pieces on the ethical treatment of animals, and her research can be found in leading philosophy journals, including Philosophical Studies, Utilitas, European Journal of Philosophy, Acta Analytica, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, the Journal of Social Philosophy, Social Epistemology, and Social Theory and Practice. She is also the co-editor of New Omnivorism and Strict Veganism: Critical Perspectives (Routledge).

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