C.E. Abbate
Assistant Professor
Education
- Ph.D. in Philosophy 2019 (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Research Areas
- Epistemology
- Ethics (especially Animal Ethics, Bioethics, and Environmental Ethics)
- Social and Political Philosophy
Selected Publications
- On the role of knowers and corresponding epistemic role oughts (2021), Synthese
- Meat eating and moral responsibility (2020), Utilitas
- Valuing animals as they are: Whether they feel it or not 2020), European Journal of Philosophy
- A defense of free-roaming cats from a hedonist account of feline well-being (2019), Acta Analytica
*See all of Abbate's published research on her PhilPeople's page.
Upcoming Courses: Fall 2020
Animal Ethics and the Law (PHIL 352) *Service-Learning:
In Animals Ethics and the Law, students will think critically about the human-animal connection. Together, we will pursue meaningful investigations into what morality demands when it comes to human-animal interactions, and we will consider what legal systems must do to promote flourishing human-animal communities. This service-learning course will afford students with the rare opportunity to directly interact with living animals—to touch, smell, and listen to them—and to reflect deeply upon the moral and legal significance of these interactions.
More Information About the Course
Philosophy of Law (PHIL 320):
We will begin this course by considering theoretical questions about the nature of the law, and we will explore and contrast important theories of law, including natural law legal theory, legal positivism, and legal realism. In this first part of the course, we will focus on the connection between law and morality, considering whether there is a moral obligation to obey the law and whether civil disobedience can ever be morally justified. In the second part of the course, we will consider applied legal topics, including gun possession, affirmative action, capital punishment, and hate speech. In these discussions, we will engage with landmark Supreme Court cases that involve conflicts between liberty and equality.