Normal vision relies on healthy eyes, retinas, and their proper wiring of the brain structures that process visual information. Light which enters the eye is sensed by photoreceptors on the retina. The information is then transmitted via the optic nerve to the lateral geniculate nucleus and from there to the first stage of cortical visual … Continue reading Amblyopia, kittens and BUAV’s deception
Category: Animal Rights News
The Speaker’s Corner Trust Debate
The Speakers' Corner Trust -- a charity organization that promotes free expression, public debate and active citizenship -- recently organized a debate on the role of animals in research. Michelle Thew of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) debated Tom Holder of Speaking of Research. In her opening remarks Ms. Thew compared … Continue reading The Speaker’s Corner Trust Debate
Marino is Over … Hopefully
Speaking of Research has spent spoken many times about the dangers of Camille Marino and her Negotiation is Over blog (here, here, here and here ... oh and here) , but finally the end may be nigh. On Friday, July 12th 2012, a judge ordered that Marino must stand trial for stalking Wayne State University … Continue reading Marino is Over … Hopefully
Cat Helicopter Exposes Moral Confusion Among Animal Rights Activists
Animal rights theorists argue that our moral consideration for a living being must rest exclusively on its intrinsic properties -- the notion of moral individualism. I explained earlier that accepting such an idea would imply our use of human or animal remains for an art project in school would be equivalent to using play-dough or … Continue reading Cat Helicopter Exposes Moral Confusion Among Animal Rights Activists
Speaking of Morality
It was with the goal of sharing my personal views on the ethics of animal research that I recently published a manuscript on the topic. I also participated in two separate, public debates with animal rights philosophers Gary Francione and Nathan Nobis. Briefly, my position is based on the notion of graded moral status. I believe we owe moral consideration … Continue reading Speaking of Morality
Animal Research in the Public Eye
The claim often made by animal activists is that much about animal research is hidden from public view and that the animal research community makes little effort to share their work and their perspectives with the public. There are a number of facts that not only provide the basis for a strong argument against that … Continue reading Animal Research in the Public Eye
Animal Rights Hacktivists
A handful of activists (maybe less) have begun to use digital means to take direct actions against those who are involved in animal research. All the hacks below involved gaining control of the website and either defacing the front page, or taking down the entire website. This is likely the actions of one or two … Continue reading Animal Rights Hacktivists
Frans de Waal’s Ethical Arguments Need Clarification
In a recent perspective, Professor Frans de Waal argues that chimpanzees deserve “special moral status.” The statement comes on the heels of a recent report by the Institute of Medicine who proposed strict criteria on the use of chimps on biomedical research. According to de Waal there are compelling ethical reasons to ban all invasive work on … Continue reading Frans de Waal’s Ethical Arguments Need Clarification
Speaking of Research 