THE ANIMAL TURN
S5E2: Bioethics with Jeff Sebo
In this episode Claudia talks to Jeff Sebo about bioethics and how it straddles both health and environmental ethics. They touch on some of the grounding principles of bioethics and how these principles frequently neglect to account for animals. They further discuss why a consideration of animals is necessary to achieve health and environmental justice.
About Jeff Sebo
Jeff Sebo is Clinical Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Affiliated Professor of Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Philosophy, and Law, Director of the Animal Studies M.A. Program, Director of the Mind, Ethics, and Policy Program, and Co-Director of the Wild Animal Welfare Program at New York University. He is author of Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves (Oxford University Press, 2022), co-author of Chimpanzee Rights (Routledge, 2018) and Food, Animals, and the Environment (Routledge, 2018). He is also an executive committee member at the NYU Center for Environmental and Animal Protection, an advisory board member at the Animals in Context series at NYU Press, a board member at Minding Animals International, a mentor at Sentient Media, and a senior research affiliate at the Legal Priorities Project. Find out more about Jeff on his website or connect with him on Twitter (@jeffrsebo)
Featured Readings:
Saving Animals: Saving Ourselves by Jeff Sebo; Animals and Public Health by Aysha Akhtar
Animal Highlight:
In this episode Mandy talks about flying foxes and some of the novel, relatable and everyday things these creatures get up to.
Bat by Tessa Laird; Shimmer: Flying Fox Exuberance in Worlds of Peril by Deborah Bird Rose; Flying Fox: Kin, Keystone, Kontaminant by Deborah Bird Rose; Wolli Creek Flying-Foxes belly-dipping in creek video by Megabattie; Banana Heaven After A Dip In The Pool video by Batzilla the Bat
Flying Foxes
"All we need to do is acknowledge the harms we cause to animals and have the courage to move the public health field forward accordingly. We are starting to recognize our symbiotic relationship with animals—that our welfare is tied to theirs. Our treatment of animals is gaining more and more scrutiny and many people are advocating a change in their treatment. Public health just needs to embrace that change, help guide it and move it along at a faster pace. What is the legacy we wish to leave behind: one in which we ignore the plight of animals and jeopardize our own health or one in which we are at the forefront of recognizing the welfare of all who can suffer? It is time now for public health to continue its legacy of fighting for the underdog and in turn improve the health of all. It is time to include animals as part of the 'public' in public health."
Aysha Akhtar, Animals and Public Health
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast; the Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research Collective for sponsoring this season; Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, Jeremy John for the logo, Christiaan Menz for his editing work, and Amanda Bunten-Walberg for the Animal Highlight