What happens when you stop letting the algorithm choose what you learn and start building your own course of study?
In the first installment of my summer" personal curriculum," I open Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation Now: The Definitive Classic Renewed, the updated 2023 edition of his influential 1975 book, Animal Liberation.
Why start here? Singer’s work supplied much of the vocabulary and philosophical framework still used in conversations about animals today. We break down speciesism, sentience, utilitarianism, and the difference between animal welfare and animal rights—without assuming you already speak the language of philosophy. ( Because I don’t.)
We look at factory farming and animal experimentation, how Singer weighs a human preference for taste or price against an animal’s interest in avoiding suffering, and why the question of plant sentience does not necessarily weaken the vegan case.
There are criticisms of Singer’s work, including disability-rights objections to his views on euthanasia and profound cognitive disability.
This episode is neither a blanket endorsement nor a takedown.
It is an invitation to read critically, understand some of the ideas that helped shape modern animal ethics, and decide what holds up for you.IN THIS EPISODE
- What a personal curriculum is—and why it can be an antidote to fragmented, algorithm-driven learning
- Why Animal Liberation Now is the first book in my vegan personal curriculum• Speciesism and the equal consideration of interests• Utilitarianism explained in plain English
- The difference between animal welfare and animal rights
- Factory farming, laboratory research, and the scale of animal suffering• Singer’s most controversial arguments and disability-rights criticism
- Why plant sentience does not necessarily undermine the vegan case
- Food, memory, displacement, and the Viennese recipes that close the book
CONTENT NOTE
This episode includes discussion of factory farming, animal experimentation, animal suffering, euthanasia, disability rights, and ethically complex questions involving infants with profound, life-limiting disabilities.
What subject would you choose for a personal curriculum of your own? And how does this new series land for you—intriguing, too academic, or exactly the nudge you needed? Reach out and let me know.The next personal-curriculum book episode will arrive in a couple of weeks. Until then, I’ll be here every week to cheer you on as you Vedge Your Best.
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Music, Production, and Editing by Charlie Weinshank. For inquiries email: charliewe97@gmail.com Virtual Support Services: https://proadminme.com/
