The arts, languages and philosophy 2019-20 speaker series
will continue at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, in Room 121 Butler-Carlton Civil
Engineering Hall.

Dr. Samantha Noll, assistant professor of philosophy at
Washington State University, will present a lecture titled “The Invasive
Species Diet: The Ethics of Hunting Lionfish for Consumption.”

The abstract is:

“Ethical concerns about consuming animals have led
ethicists to express concern about suffering or violating the rights of food
animals and advocate vegetarianism. However, the environmental ethics of Aldo
Leopold (1968) and Gary Varner (2011) suggest there are times when killing
animals for food is the most ethical choice. Consider the case of lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles), an
invasive species found in the western Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of
Mexico. Their presence has fueled management strategies that rely predominantly
on promoting human predation and consumption. Concerted efforts are taken to
promote the capture of lionfish, raise awareness about their existence and
deleterious effects, and showcase their appetizing qualities, all while
removing thousands of lionfish from the area’s waters. Ecologically, such
removals are beneficial as they reduce lionfish biomass and allow for the
recovery of native fish populations. The ethics of these targeted removals and
whether lionfish have rights which are violated by them has not yet been
examined. This talk will explore the ethical dimensions of lionfish removal and
provide an ethical argument supporting hunting lionfish for consumption.”

All lectures in the series will be held at S&T and are
free and open to the public. For more information, contact the arts, languages
and philosophy department at 341-4869 or alp@mst.edu.