Inspired by studying philosophy at Queen’s, Alex Dawson (philosophy undergraduate, class of 2020) has started the Kingston anti-fur group, “Fur Free Katarokwi”, whose goal is the disruption and abolition of the manufacture and sale of fur in the Kingston-Katarokwi region. Says Alex: “Studying philosophy at Queen's … pried open my sphere of moral concern to include the suffering of those in distant locations, future generations and non-human animals”.
Alex is one of many members of the Queen’s philosophy community concerned about the ethical, legal and political dimensions of human-animal relationships. Indeed, in the burgeoning field of critical animal studies, Queen’s Philosophy is establishing a home for scholars focused on these topics. The Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law, and Ethics (APPLE) research group aims to bring “the animal question” into the mainstream of academic research and public debate in Canada, focusing in particular on the moral, legal and political dimensions of how human-animal relations are governed.