S1E9: Liberty with Valéry Giroux

Jul 7, 2020

Valéry Giroux, a coordinator at the Center for research in ethics and law expert, discusses the intricate link between liberty and animal rights. She explores the philosophical implications of animal freedom and critiques traditional autonomy, pushing for legal personhood for animals. Valéry emphasizes recognizing sentience as a moral consideration, promoting strong protections for sentient beings. The conversation also delves into how advocating for animal rights intersects with broader social causes, revealing the need for structural legal changes.

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ANECDOTE

From Law Student To Animal Rights Philosopher

Giroux recounts training as a lawyer, joining Amnesty International, then pivoting to animal law and philosophy.
She describes how frustration with existing laws led her to pursue a doctorate in moral philosophy focused on extending rights to sentient beings.

INSIGHT

Fundamental Rights Protect Comparable Interests

Valéry Giroux argues fundamental rights should protect comparable interests across beings, using equality and rights-as-protection principles.
She concludes sentient beings deserve rights against torture, killing, and exploitation to respect equal interests.

INSIGHT

Right To Life Via Deprivation Account

Giroux contrasts views on the right to life: some tie it to cognitive continuity, while she argues all sentient beings are harmed by death.
She uses the deprivation account to extend the right to life to non-human sentient beings.

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Claudia talks to Valéry Giroux about liberty and how it relates to animals and the law. Valéry unpacks some of the debates and tensions that arise when thinking about liberty, the different types of liberty there are and also how she envisions the law could better serve animals’ freedom by acknowledging them as persons with rights.

Date recorded: 26 June 2020

Guest: Valéry Giroux has an academic training in law and is a doctor in philosophy. She is one of the two coordinators of the Center for research in ethics (a Quebec interuniversity center), where she does research in animal ethics. She is also an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law of University of Montreal, and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. She regularly gives conferences and speaks in the media about animal rights, animal ethics and veganism. She is the author of the books Contre l’exploitation animale (L’Âge d’homme) and Le Véganisme (Puf, co-authored), both published in 2017. In the same collection as the latter, she just published another book, this one on antispeciesism.

Host: Claudia Hirtenfelder is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project that looks at the historical relationships between animals and cities. Connect with her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne).

Featured readings: The Rights of Animals and Unborn Generation (1974) by Joel Feinberg; Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism (1991) by James Rachels; Welfare, Happiness, and Ethics (1999) by L.W. Sumner; The Animal Question: Why Nonhuman Animals Deserve Human Rights (2004) by Paola Cavalieri; Zoopolis. A Pol

A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

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