Guest Lecture by Dr. Melissa Ann Kaul

Dr. Melissa Ann Kaul (UZH and University of Edinburgh)

Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 16:45–17:30
University of Zurich, Rämistrasse 59, 8001 Zürich
Room RAA-G-15

Abstract:
The academic debate on non-human animals is attracting more and more attention worldwide. Disciplines outside the natural sciences in particular have long found it difficult to regard animals as morally valuable enough to be integrated into scientific discourse at all. The works "Animal Liberation" (1975) by Peter Singer and "The Case for Animal Rights" (1983) by Tom Regan marked the birth of the modern animal rights movement and simultaneously brought the treatment of non-human animals to centre stage. The field of Animal Studies, which is becoming increasingly recognised today, takes an interdisciplinary approach to the way in which non-human animals are culturally represented and constructed. However, this so-called 'animal turn' in academic disciplines has so far been limited to Western thinkers and their concepts and theories, largely ignoring Asian philosophy. This is despite the fact that non-human animals have played and continue to play an equally important role in various Asian cultures, not least in their visual representation. 

This lecture will therefore not only introduce Animal Studies (in particular Animal Ethics) and the concept of Posthumanism but will also use a Japanese pre-modern thinker to show how animal studies can benefit from and be expanded by East Asian thought.

The lecture will be held in English and is open to all students. No registration is necessary. For questions, please contact us via email at kgoa@khist.uzh.ch