Call for Abstracts
What Philosophy Can Tell You About Your Cat
Please circulate and post widely.
Steven Hales, Editor (hales@bloomu.edu)
To be published by Open Court Publishing Co.
Submissions should be aimed at the intelligent pet owner, someone who cares about cats and is interested in what philosophy can say about it. This is not the place for piles of footnotes and citations, but for insights and reflections on pets that will prompt a reader to think. The essays should be written for the readers of Harpers, TLS, and Atlantic Monthly, not the readers of Mind and Nous. Original argumentation is good but not essential. The application to cats of classic arguments, positions, and theories, or the thoughts of canonical philosophers, is perfectly fine.
Here are some possible themes and topics. This is not an exhaustive list, however, and creativity is welcomed:
1. Does your cat really love you, or is it just stimulus-response?
2. Do you own your cat, or is the human-pet relationship one of guardianship, like that of parent to child?
3. Anthropomorphizing.
4. The thoughts of the great historical philosophers on whether animals are ensouled or mere automata.
5. Animal companionship and the possibility of being friends with your cat.
6. Cat euthanasia: is it morally preferable to human euthanasia?
7. The ethics of domestication.
8. Will cloning bring back Ginger? Identity of cats through time.
9. Philosophical issues in animal training/obedience.
10. What can cats teach us about love and friendship?
11. Is animal communication a language, and if not, what kinds of thoughts and beliefs can your cat have?
12. Would it be morally acceptable to clone cat breeds that are endangered due to inbreeding?
13. Cat worship and the nature of the divine.
14. Is there an appropriate ethic of cat breeding?
15. Philosophical issues involving training and showing cats for agility, beauty, temperament.
16. A presentation of theories of vagueness using cat breeds as the key example.
Contributor guidelines:
1. Abstract of paper (approx. 150 words), submission deadline: December 1, 2006.
2. CV or résumé for each author and co-author
3. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: May 1, 2007
4. Submission deadline for final papers: September 1, 2007
5. Final papers should be between 3500-5000 words
6. Abstracts should be submitted by e-mail (Word attachment).
7. Accepted contributors will receive an honorarium upon modest sales of the book.
Two books will be simultaneously published: one on dogs and one on cats. Please make clear in your abstract which book you are submitting for.
Send by e-mail to: Steven Hales (hales@bloomu.edu)
1 commento:
Ovviamente c'e' anche la versione canina.
Call for Abstracts
What Philosophy Can Tell You About Your Dog
Please circulate and post widely.
Steven Hales, Editor (hales@bloomu.edu)
To be published by Open Court Publishing Co.
Submissions should be aimed at the intelligent pet owner, someone who cares about dogs and is interested in what philosophy can say about it. This is not the place for piles of footnotes and citations, but for insights and reflections on pets that will prompt a reader to think. The essays should be written for the readers of Harpers, TLS, and Atlantic Monthly, not the readers of Mind and Nous. Original argumentation is good but not essential. The application to dogs of classic arguments, positions, and theories, or the thoughts of canonical philosophers, is perfectly fine.
Here are some possible themes and topics. This is not an exhaustive list, however, and creativity is welcomed:
1. Does your dog really love you, or is it just stimulus-response?
2. Do you own your dog, or is the human-pet relationship one of guardianship, like that of parent to child?
3. Anthropomorphizing.
4. The thoughts of the great historical philosophers on whether animals are ensouled or mere automata.
5. Animal companionship and the possibility of being friends with your dog.
6. Dog euthanasia: is it morally superior to human euthanasia?
7. The ethics of domestication.
8. Will cloning bring back Fido? Identity of dogs through time.
9. Philosophical issues in animal training/obedience.
10. What can Old Yeller teach us about love and friendship?
11. Is animal communication a language, and if not, what kinds of thoughts and beliefs can your dog have?
12. Would it be morally acceptable to clone dog breeds that are endangered due to inbreeding?
13. Is there an appropriate ethic of dog breeding?
14. What’s wrong with breeding dogs for fighting?
15. Should companion animals (e.g. seeing-eye dogs) be allowed everywhere their owners need them, such as in the cabins of planes?
16. Philosophical issues involving training and showing dogs for agility, beauty, temperament.
17. Philosophical issues involving defining dogs in terms of “pure” breeds and “mutts” and then breeding them (often at considerable genetic cost to the animal) as registered AKC.
18. A presentation of theories of vagueness using dog breeds as the key example.
Contributor guidelines:
1. Abstract of paper (approx. 150 words), submission deadline: December 1, 2006.
2. CV or résumé for each author and co-author
3. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: May 1, 2007
4. Submission deadline for final papers: September 1, 2007
5. Final papers should be between 3500-5000 words
6. Abstracts should be submitted by e-mail (Word attachment).
7. Accepted contributors will receive an honorarium upon modest sales of the book.
Two books will be simultaneously published: one on dogs and one on cats. Please make clear in your abstract which book you are submitting for.
Send by e-mail to: Steven Hales (hales@bloomu.edu)
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