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4 - Human and Nonhuman Animals from Secular and Sacred Perspectives

from Part I - Concepts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2022

By
Charles Taliaferro
Edited by
Alexander J. B. Hampton  and
Douglas Hedley
Alexander J. B. Hampton
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Douglas Hedley
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

Since the emergence of modern science in the West (roughly the 17th century), there has been tension between classical theism (there is a God, as envisioned in the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and different forms of naturalism (the denial of theism and the affirmation of a natural world with no souls, no afterlife, no supernatural, and so on). It is argued that the case for recognizing that some nonhuman animals have thoughts and feelings, and are thus morally significant, is stronger from a theistic perspective rather than from the standpoint of naturalism. Special attention is given to upholding a humane, Christian animal ethic.

Keywords

scientific naturalismbroad naturalismclassical theismAbrahamic faithsPaul ChurchlandDescartesDaniel DennettThomas NagelAnne ConwayAndrew Linzey
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Christianity and the Environment , pp. 48 - 62
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

Selected Bibliography

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