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Can Animals be Persons? In conversation with Mark Rowlands

Can Animals be Persons? In conversation with Mark Rowlands

Nick Spencer speaks with University of Miami Professor, Mark Rowlands. 14/05/2024

The idea that non–human animals should be recognised as legal persons has gained traction over recent years, and is the subject of numerous court cases. But underlying the legal and indeed empirical questions here, are some pretty deep philosophical ones.

What actually is a person? What role does rationality or consciousness or language play? And depending on our answers to those questions, could a non–human animal ever qualify as a person? 

In this week’s episode, Nick Spencer speaks to Mark Rowlands about his book Can Animals be Persons?

Buy a copy of the book here.

 


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Nick Spencer

Nick Spencer

Nick is Senior Fellow at Theos. He is the author of The Landscapes of Science and Religion (OUP, 2025), Playing God: Science, Religion and the Future of Humanity (2024), and Magisteria: the entangled histories of science and religion (Oneworld, 2023). Nick is host of the podcast Reading Our Times.

Watch, listen to or read more from Nick Spencer

Posted 14 May 2024

Animals, Podcast, Reading Our Times

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