_The Weight of Things_ explores the hard questions of our daily lives, examining both classic and contemporary accounts of what it means to lead 'the good life'. Looks at the views of philosophers such as Aristotle, the Stoics, Mill, Nietzsche, and Sartre as well as contributions from other traditions, such as Buddhism Incorporates key arguments from contemporary philosophers including Peter Singer, Martha Nussbaum, Robert Nozick, John Finnis, and Susan Wolf Uses examples from biography, literature, history, movies and media, and the (...) news Gives a fresh perspective on the hard questions of our daily lives An engaging read; an excellent book for both students and general readers. (shrink)

The objective list account of wellbeing is usually taken to say that the same set of goods is relevant to wellbeing for any person, regardless of age. Coupled with reasonable assumptions about how goods are distributed over the lifespan, that leads to a picture of wellbeing as higher in midlife and lower in childhood and old age. I argue that a stage-relativized objective list theory is more plausible, after exploring several ways to understand the concept of a life stage. On (...) the stage-relativized view, lists of goods that define wellbeing vary in the sense that there are shifting thresholds and subcategories relevant to different stages of life, but also because there are goods that count at one stage and count less or not at all at others. After exploring the list of goods for old age, I argue that the old age form of wellbeing can be welcomed even if the goods it offers are not superior to midlife goods. (shrink)

Advocates of veganism often assume that food enjoyment has little moral weight, because it involves mere taste pleasure. Because of the triviality of taste pleasure, they consider it obvious that harming animals to secure particular tastes is ‘unnecessary’. After discussing the elements of taste, defending the importance of taste, exploring what ‘unnecessary harm’ means, and introducing a number of taste related thought experiments, I argue that harm to animals is not always unnecessary, when what's at stake is taste. However, by (...) supplementing considerations involving necessity with considerations of character, I conclude that vegans are often, though not always, praiseworthy. (shrink)

Every aspect of having and raising a child leads to profound and challenging philosophical questions. The Philosophical Parent is a companion for parents and parents-to-be that explores the myriad worries that come with making and raising children. Kazez explores eighteen perplexities, arguing for a novel view of the parent-child relationship, with implications at every stage of parenthood.

This chapter contains sections titled: The Question Mind and Brain What It Does Global Availability The Grey Area What It's Like.

This chapter contains sections titled: The “Ur” Problem Respect Carnivores and Cannibals The Social Contract The Mini‐Beasts Compassion.

This chapter contains sections titled: Human, All Too Human Thinking Self and Other Locked in the Present? Human Morality Animal Morality? What Else?

This chapter contains sections titled: Hunter, Herder, Farmer Losing Our Balance Animal Farm Creating and Destroying How Now Meat is not Green.

John Stuart Mill famously maintained that “animal pleasures” – like enjoying good smells and tastes – are lower quality than the pleasures tied to higher cognition, like the pleasure of enjoying an opera or understanding a mathematical proof. This downgrading is particularly common in the ethical literature about eating animals. Peter Singer, James Rachels, Gary Francione, Alastair Norcross and dozens of other ethicists make quick work of defending vegetarianism by presuming that “gustatory pleasure” is trivial. But is it?

This chapter contains sections titled: Vaccine Hunting Horrible Harry Into the Lab Necessary Questions.

This chapter contains sections titled: The Animal Conundrum Innovations, Alliances Public Activism Personal Change.

This chapter contains sections titled: Pride and Prejudice People and Chickens Weighing Lives Animal Lives A Painful Question People and People Choosing Equality.

This chapter contains sections titled: Animal Spirits Divine Consent Let's Make a Deal.

This chapter contains sections titled: Ecce Homo The Great Chain of Being The Absent Soul The Tree of Life The Kind that Counts.

This chapter contains sections titled: Why Species Matter Man Is the Measure Mild versus Wild Culture Clash.