Of mice, men, and ethics

Literary study and moral concern for nonhuman animals

Bibliographic Data

ID11951432
AuthorsRoss Collin (0000-0002-6017-2205, Virginia Commonwealth University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume57
Issue6
Pages1161-1175
Publication date2023-10-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Philosophy of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0309-8249 • E-ISSN: 1467-9752
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/jopedu/qhad072
OpenAlexW4388194246
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

This article explores the philosopher Alice Crary’s ideas about ethics, literature, and nonhuman animals. Through studying certain works of literature, Crary writes, readers can see aspects of animals’ moral characteristics that are difficult to perceive outside of literary study. To illustrate and extend Crary’s argument, the article presents a reading of John Steinbeck’s (1937/1993) Of Mice and Men, a novella that is taught frequently in secondary schools and that has been re-evaluated by critics as offering insights into social inequality and animal welfare. Drawing upon and adapting Crary’s work, which does not address questions of pedagogy, the article describes forms of instruction that enable students reading Of Mice and Men and other works of literature to explore the moral lives of animals. Thus, a key contribution of this project is its explanation of how educators can use philosophy to open pedagogy to new ways of seeing and assessing animals’ moral characteristics

Argument (complex analysis · Art · Epistemology · Literature · Novella · Pedagogy · Reading (process · Sociology · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Outdoor and Experiential Education · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism · Philosophy

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