Joined Mar 2009
283 Posts | 0+
Edmonton, Alberta CANADA
Want to be part of a book? Here is your chance.
Russ
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Hunting & Philosophy
Hunting is older than civilization, having played a central role in the artistic, religious and philosophical traditions of countless cultures. Yet few activities have been so controversial as hunting, for it touches the nerve of fundamental human questions like death, embodiment, nonhuman life, and morality. This book, which is part of the Wiley-Blackwell series Philosophy for Everyone, invites abstracts from relevant disciplines such as philosophy, anthropology, political theory, native studies, theology, history – as well as from thoughtful hunters. Abstracts and resulting selected papers should be written for an educated, but non-technical audience intrigued by hunting.
This anthology seeks to broaden the conversation about hunting, both by expanding the range of questions about the hunt that academics might address, and by opening the conversation to those who are most familiar with it. In addition to the standing corpus concerning the ethical justification of hunting, we also want to investigate less traditional topics that provide fresh perspectives on concrete hunting practices. While any relevant topic is welcome, the following suggestions may provide fertile ground for inspiration:
Vice or Virtue?
Will the Real Hunters Please Stand Up?
Tools of the Trade:
Embodied Knowledge, Lived Experience:
Views of the World and Larger Realities:
Wild Nature and Human Nature:
Culture and Politics:
Guidelines for Contributions:
Abstracts should be submitted electronically to [email protected]. Other proposals for series titles are also welcome; please direct those to Fritz Allhoff at [email protected]
Russ
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hunting & Philosophy
Hunting is older than civilization, having played a central role in the artistic, religious and philosophical traditions of countless cultures. Yet few activities have been so controversial as hunting, for it touches the nerve of fundamental human questions like death, embodiment, nonhuman life, and morality. This book, which is part of the Wiley-Blackwell series Philosophy for Everyone, invites abstracts from relevant disciplines such as philosophy, anthropology, political theory, native studies, theology, history – as well as from thoughtful hunters. Abstracts and resulting selected papers should be written for an educated, but non-technical audience intrigued by hunting.
This anthology seeks to broaden the conversation about hunting, both by expanding the range of questions about the hunt that academics might address, and by opening the conversation to those who are most familiar with it. In addition to the standing corpus concerning the ethical justification of hunting, we also want to investigate less traditional topics that provide fresh perspectives on concrete hunting practices. While any relevant topic is welcome, the following suggestions may provide fertile ground for inspiration:
Vice or Virtue?
• The ethical status of hunting in general: is it fundamentally cruel? basic to human well-being?
• Too close to nature or not close enough? hunting as totemism, savagery, distance or domination.
• Are some kinds of hunting morally superior while others are morally reprehensible?
• Submission to self-limitation, prey animals as “game,” and hunting as “sport.”
• Too close to nature or not close enough? hunting as totemism, savagery, distance or domination.
• Are some kinds of hunting morally superior while others are morally reprehensible?
• Submission to self-limitation, prey animals as “game,” and hunting as “sport.”
Will the Real Hunters Please Stand Up?
• Subsistence, sealing, trapping, trophies and poaching: a sport, a job, a crime or a way of life?
• Is shooting varmints authentic hunting? targeting “bad” species like gophers, crows, and coyotes.
• Using ‘everything but the voice:’ are hunters obligated to make use of all the prey’s body parts?
• Do game farms, baiting or food plots (etc.) undermine real hunting?
• What are the characteristics of a “slob hunter” and why do they matter?
• Is shooting varmints authentic hunting? targeting “bad” species like gophers, crows, and coyotes.
• Using ‘everything but the voice:’ are hunters obligated to make use of all the prey’s body parts?
• Do game farms, baiting or food plots (etc.) undermine real hunting?
• What are the characteristics of a “slob hunter” and why do they matter?
Tools of the Trade:
• Archery, muzzleloading and spears: The rationale behind hunting with “primitive” weapons.
• Technology, fair chase and field skill: radios, range finders, trail cameras, and other gadgetry.
• Using other animals as weapons: falconry, dogs, and human/non-human relationships.
• Camouflage, scents, decoys and honks: what wizardry is this?
• Technology, fair chase and field skill: radios, range finders, trail cameras, and other gadgetry.
• Using other animals as weapons: falconry, dogs, and human/non-human relationships.
• Camouflage, scents, decoys and honks: what wizardry is this?
Embodied Knowledge, Lived Experience:
• Signs, tracks and omens: reading the text of the Earth, communing with animals.
• Sitting, stalking, flushing, calling: do some styles of hunting satisfy more than others?
• How does experiencing a hunt compare to fishing, foraging, ranching, farming, shopping (etc.)?
• Chasing pictures: could nature photography or virtual reality adequately replace the hunt?
• Sitting, stalking, flushing, calling: do some styles of hunting satisfy more than others?
• How does experiencing a hunt compare to fishing, foraging, ranching, farming, shopping (etc.)?
• Chasing pictures: could nature photography or virtual reality adequately replace the hunt?
Views of the World and Larger Realities:
• What is it like to hunt? phenomenologies or cosmologies of hunting.
• Saying grace, taking photos or giving high-fives: how should hunters behave after a kill?
• Death: love it or hate it? what hunting might teach us about being alive, sentient and mortal.
• Hunting the sacred bear: god(s) and wild animals as numinous, hidden, dangerous and desired.
• Saying grace, taking photos or giving high-fives: how should hunters behave after a kill?
• Death: love it or hate it? what hunting might teach us about being alive, sentient and mortal.
• Hunting the sacred bear: god(s) and wild animals as numinous, hidden, dangerous and desired.
Wild Nature and Human Nature:
• The value of wild life: should hunters support the domestication of wild animals like elk or bison?
• Wildlife population management and the introduction of non-native species for sporting purposes.
• Hunting for a better ecology: do outdoorsmen possess a unique brand of environmentalism?
• Evolution and human nature: did hunting make us a more violent or sympathetic species?
• Is philosophy a form of hunting? Plato compared reasoning to omnivorous foraging.
• Wildlife population management and the introduction of non-native species for sporting purposes.
• Hunting for a better ecology: do outdoorsmen possess a unique brand of environmentalism?
• Evolution and human nature: did hunting make us a more violent or sympathetic species?
• Is philosophy a form of hunting? Plato compared reasoning to omnivorous foraging.
Culture and Politics:
• Trophies and oak leaves: understanding hunting rituals, traditions and other quirks.
• Rich guys and red necks: hunting and class division in Europe and North America.
• The culture or politics of hunting in history and/or pre-history.
• For white guys only? perspectives of aboriginal, non-European, female or gay hunters.
• Rich guys and red necks: hunting and class division in Europe and North America.
• The culture or politics of hunting in history and/or pre-history.
• For white guys only? perspectives of aboriginal, non-European, female or gay hunters.
Guidelines for Contributions:
• Abstracts for papers (approximately 200 words) due by 15 July 2009
• Accepted authors will receive notification by 15 August 2009
• The submission deadline for accepted papers will be 15 December 2009
• Final papers must be between 4000 - 5000 words and be aimed at a general, educated audience.
• Accepted authors will receive notification by 15 August 2009
• The submission deadline for accepted papers will be 15 December 2009
• Final papers must be between 4000 - 5000 words and be aimed at a general, educated audience.
Abstracts should be submitted electronically to [email protected]. Other proposals for series titles are also welcome; please direct those to Fritz Allhoff at [email protected]
