David Sztybel, Ph. D.


August, 2006

sztybeld@post.queensu.ca
http://sztybel.tripod.com/home.html


Citizenship: Canadian

Education


Ph. D. in Philosophy, University of Toronto (1994-2000)
  • Convocation: November 23, 2000
  • Major: Ethics and Animals
  • Minor: Philosophy of Religion
  • Dissertation title: Empathy and Rationality in Ethics
  • Thesis Committee: L. W. Sumner, Ingrid Stefanovic, Frank Cunningham
  • Oral Defence Committee: L. W. Sumner, Ingrid Stefanovic, Frank Cunningham, Michael Allen Fox, Ian Hacking

M.A. in Philosophy, University of Toronto (1992-94)
B.A. in Philosophy, University of Toronto (1986-91)

Areas of Specialization


  • environmental ethics (animal issus, social, political, and legal aspects, rights theory)

  • metaethics (justification of moral theories)

Areas of Competence


  • social and political philosophy
  • feminist ethics
  • epistemology and metaphysics
  • history of philosophy (especially ancient and early modern)
  • philosophy of religion
  • philosophy of peace
  • philosophy of human sexuality

Research


Articles (refereed)

Sztybel, D. “Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism.” Journal of Critical Animal Studies 5 (1) (2007): 1-37.

Sztybel, D. “Animals as Persons,” in Animal Subjects, edited by Jodey Castricano (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008). (forthcoming)

Sztybel, D. “A Non-violent Approach to Animal Rights Activism.” Ethics and the Environment. (forthcoming)

Sztybel, D. “Animal Rights and the Mask of Liberal Neutrality.” Ethics and the Environment. (forthcoming)

Sztybel, D. "The Rights of Animal Persons." Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal 4 (1) (2006): 1-37.

Sztybel, D. "Can the Treatment of Animals Be Compared to the Holocaust?" Ethics and the Environment 11 (Spring 2006): 97-132.

Sztybel, D. "A Living Will Clause for Supporters of Animal Experimentation." Journal of Applied Philosophy 23 (May 2000): 173-189.

Sztybel, D. "Animal Rights: Autonomy and Redundancy." Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 14 (3) (2001): 259-73.

Sztybel, D. "Taking Humanism Seriously: 'Obligatory' Anthropocentrism." Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 13 (3/4) (2000): 181-203.

Sztybel, D. "Marxism and Animal Rights." Ethics and the Environment 2 (Fall 1997): 169-85.

Articles (non-refereed)

Sztybel, D. "Descartes, Rene." The Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, pp. 130-32. Edited by Marc Bekoff. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998.

Sztybel, D. "Distinguishing Animal Rights from Animal Welfare." Ibid., pp. 43-45.

Sztybel, D. "Jainism." Ibid., pp. 292-93.

Discussion Papers

Sztybel, D. "Response to Evelyn B. Pluhar's 'Non-Obligatory Anthropocentrism.'" Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 13 (3/4) (2000): 337-40.

Presentations at Conferences (refereed)

Sztybel, D. "Taking Humanism Seriously: 'Obligatory' Anthropocentrism" (paper presented at the meeting of the Society for the Study of Ethics and Animals, at the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, Boston, Massachusetts, 28 December 1999).

Sztybel, D. "Marxism and Animal Rights" (paper presented at the International Congress of the Radical Philosophy Association, Purdue University, 17 November 1996).

Sztybel, D. "Descartes and Nonhuman Animals." (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Philosophical Association, Brock University, 29 May 1996).

Presentations at Conferences (non-refereed)

Sztybel, D. “Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism.” (paper presented at the conference, “Thinking about Animals: Domination, Captivity, Liberation,” at Brock University, 17 March 2007).

Sztybel, D. "Should Animal Rights and Environmentalist Teachers Be Neutral about Their Views in the Classroom?" (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Environmental Studies Association of Canada, at University of Western Ontario, 3 June 2005).

Sztybel, D. "Animal Rights Extremism and Violence." (paper presented at the conference, "Two Days of Thinking about Animals in Canada," at Brock University, 25 February 2005).

Sztybel, D. "Ethical Vegetarianism." (paper presented in the Third Age Learning Series at University of Guelph, 3 November 2004).

Sztybel, D. "Representing Animals as Equivalent to Cognitively Disadvantaged Humans." (paper presented at the conference, "Representing Animals," at Brock University, 13 November 2003).

Colloquia

Sztybel, D. "Animal Minds, Reductionism, and Ethics." (paper presented at the colloquium of the Department of Philosophy, Queen's University, 19 September 2002).

Sztybel, D. "Good Beyond Words: Skepticism, Cynicism, and an Argument Against Ethical Nihilism." (paper presented at the colloquium of the Department of Philosophy, McMaster University, 18 January 2002).

Sztybel, D. "Refuting Anthropocentrism in Ethics." (paper presented at the colloquium of the Department of Philosophy, Queen's University, 13 September 2001).

Professional Writing Guides

Sztybel, D. "Guide to Philosophy Essay Writing." Available in paper and web-based formats from the Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto since 1998; revised 1999, 2000; also available from the Department of Philosophy, Queen's University since 2001.

Sztybel, D. "Citations Guide in the Humanities." An extensive and often-consulted guide to citation formats, both footnote-endnote style and MLA style. Available in paper and web-based formats from Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto since 2000; also available from the Department of Philosophy, Queen's Univesity since 2001.

Research Assistantships

I researched various codes of ethics, and literature concerning these, for "The Short Hills Project" in 1994. The primary purpose of the project was to assist Professor Ingrid Stefanovic in her researching and drafting of a code of ethics for Short Hills Provincial Park.

Teaching Experience


Instructor (Brock University):

  • Animals and Society SOCI 4P85 (Spring 2008)
  • Animals and the Law SOCI 4P65 (Spring 2008)
  • Social Problems SOCI 4P88 (Spring 2008)
  • Animals and the Law SOCI 3P65 (Fall 2007)

Graduate Student Supervision:

  • Supervised reading course on ecofeminism and animal ethics, Phil. 993*, for Sheri Ann Lucas, doctoral student, Department of Philosophy, Queen's University, September 2002 to January 2003.
  • Reader for Master's Thesis of Sheri Ann Lucas, Department of Philosophy, Queen's University. Served on oral defence committee 19 September 2002.
  • Reader for Master's Thesis of Zameer Hakamali, Department of Philosophy, Queen's University. Served on oral defence committee 30 January 2002.

Teaching as adjunct professor (Queen's University):

  • Ethics and Animals, Phil. 497*/897* (undergraduate/graduate seminar; Spring 2002)
  • Independent Reading Course, Phil. 510*, Animals and the Philosophy of Mind, Terra Frieden (undergraduate, Spring 2002)
  • Philosophy of Peace, Phil. 202* (Fall 2001)

Instructor (University of Toronto):

  • Issues in Environmental Ethics, PHL 373 (Spring 1999)
  • Philosophy of Human Sexuality, PHL 243 (Fall, 1997)

Teaching Assistant for the following courses in Philosophy (University of Toronto):

  • Introduction to Philosophical Problems (1999-2000, 1996-97, 1995-96)
  • Environmental Ethics (Summer 1996)
  • Philosophy of Human Sexuality (Summer 1995, Fall 1994)

Philosophy Essay Clinic Facilitator:

  • St. George Campus, University of Toronto, 2000-2001
  • Used and revised my "Guide to Philosophy Essay Writing" developed my extensive citation guides

Guest Lecturer in Courses:

  • "The Strongest Version of Anthropocentrism," (Fall 1998, 1999, 2000, Introduction to Environmental Ethics, University of Toronto)
  • "Pornography and Censorship," (Summer 1999, Philosophy of Human Sexuality, University of Toronto)
  • "Peter Singer's Animal Liberation," (Spring 1997, Introduction to Philosophy, University of Toronto)
  • "Tom Regan on Animal Rights," (Summer 1996, Introduction to Environmental Ethics, University of Toronto)
  • "Kantianism and Utilitarianism," (Spring 1996, Introduction to Philosophy, University of Toronto)
  • "Buddhism and Vegetarianism," (Fall 1995, Introduction to Philosophy, University of Toronto)
  • "The Lecherous Professor," (Summer 1995, Philosophy of Human Sexuality, University of Toronto)
  • "Sado-Masochism," (Fall 1994, Philosophy of Human Sexuality, University of Toronto)

Fellowships and Prizes


  • Advisory Research Committee Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Queen's University, 2001-2002 (specialization: animal rights ethics)
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (1996-97)
  • University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowships (1997-98, 1995-96, 1994-95)
  • George Paxton Young Memorial Prize (1999)

Languages


  • English (fluent knowledge)
  • French (reading knowledge)
  • German (reading knowledge)

Doctoral Dissertation Abstract: "Empathy and Rationality in Ethics"


The purpose of this thesis is to articulate a new theory of normative ethics, called "ethical empathism." One of the basic tasks of ethics is to determine, without prejudice, who or what has moral standing. That is, who can be said to be entitled to basic practical respect in the form of rights, utilitarian consideration, or some form of care? The traditional, humanist solution is that only human beings have moral standing, or else they have a surpassing degree of it. A detailed investigation of traditional humanism and of animal liberation ethics--which would extend moral standing to nonhuman animals--reveals a sort of deadlock. In the interests of furthering this debate, a new and formidable version of humanism is offered. It is dubbed "Juggernaut" because of its great success in apparently defeating, and resisting objections from, contemporary animal liberationist views. Juggernaut is based in the idea that nonhumans generaly lack many dimensions of value which humans possess.

Juggernaut is so compelling that critics of humanism, L. W. Sumner and Evelyn B. Pluhar (from a utilitarian and strict rights perspective, respectively) have already reckoned it to be the best version of humanism to date. It becomes difficult to find fault with it, perhaps, until it is pointed out that the view lacks deep empathy. That is, humanism does not identify with the key reality of the point of view, for any conscious entity that can be said to have one. Such an identification with a being, and that being's good, results in a strong form of respect which is not contingent on any attributes of the given being. Additionally, reductionist strategies in interpreting mental lives risk harming beings, by overlooking those with actual psychological capacities. Therefore, such forms of reductionism (among others related to the denial of free will, and of mind in general), are rejected as oppressive.

In general, harmful treatment of nonhuman animals is characterizd as not only unempathetic, but oppressive, and therefore "speciesist" (although Juggernaut, as implied, seeks to cast doubt on this judgment). Comparing the oppression of nonhuman animals, then, to racism, invites a possible comparison to the Holocaust. This comparison can be borne out at a conceptual level, since the treatments involved equally accord with what is meant by the term, "discriminatory oppression." Still, while there are many similarities of detail, there are also differences. This is unsurprising since, after all, there are many differenes of detail between forms of racism and sexism, as well.

Normative questions are explored, and entire moral theories are found to run counter to what the author identifies as "the classist fallacy" (inferring, just from the fact that a being does not belong to a certain favoured grouping or classification, that we may harm that being). These theories include such venerable constructions as Kantianism, contractarianism, natural law theory, and ecoholism. The theory which is treated at considerable length, however, is utilitarianism, which will claim to empathize with all beings in a given context, thus finding out all that is good, and then maximizing that good for all beings. From this premise, utilitarianism can seem to be a very formidable contender for the title of "deep empathy." It may seem as though, by contrast, strict rights views, which are less willing to harm individuals for "the greatest good," are merely holding back the realization of what is most empathetic to all individuals concerned. It is determined, however, that utilitarianism presupposes an unempathetic conception of the good, which is overly abstract, and is not coupled with the empathetic ideal of harming individuals as little as possible. Instead, utilitarians will sacrifice abstract units of goodness as little as possible. Thus, an individual rights framework is defended. After moral dilemmas are contemplated, without any attempt to reduce the difficulties of genuine ethical quandaries, it is concluded that the resulting ethical theory, "ethical empathism," can yet provide unique practical guidance on a great many enduring practical issues, including capital punishment, euthanasia, harmfully using animals for human benefit, discrimination against gays and minorities, and a great deal more.

Professional Service and Volunteer Work


  • Facilitator, Philosophy Essay Writing Workshop, University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, November 21, 2000
  • Author, University of Toronto's guide to philosophy essay writing and citations, available to students from the philosophy undergraduate office (since 1998; revised 1999, 2000), now also available at Queen's as its dedicated guide to philosophy essay and citations guide
  • Secretary, Graduate Philosophy Students Union (1996-97)
  • Steward, Canadian Union of Educational Workers (1995-96)
  • President, Philosophers for Peace (1994-95)
  • Moderator, special lunch-time discussion with Charles Taylor, University of Toronto, 1995

References


  • Michael Allen Fox, Queen's University, Department of Philosophy, Kingston, Ontario. Tel.: (613) 545-2182. E-mail: maf@post.queensu.ca. External examiner for dissertation, and Supervisor for Queen's Advisory Research Council Post-doctoral Fellowship.
  • L. W. Sumner, University of Toronto, Department of Philosophy, 215 Huron St., Toronto, Ontario. Tel.: (416) 978-4128. E-mail: sumner@chass.utoronto.ca. Doctoral Supervisor.
  • Evelyn B. Pluhar, Pennsylvania State University, Fayette Campus, Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Tel.: (724) 430-4258. E-mail: exp5@psu.edu. Commentator on American Philosophical Association conference paper.