Please speak with me or with Susan and Jed Civic at the Environmental Travel booth. And please join me at my workshop this afternoon because some of the participants from the first tour will speak about what they learnt from their trip to England. Finally, I want to express a note of caution about ideologies. There is occasionally within the debate about animal liberation spirited discussion about the different philosophical traditions that are used to justify a new relationship with nonhuman animals. These philosophical traditions include utilitarianism, natural rights, painism, ecofeminism, and others.
Philosophical theories are to be used like tools but beware when they become dogmatic ideologies.
Some animal rights proponents use particular philosophical theories as yardsticks to measure how real an animal rights activist you really are. Reject these artificially constructed devices at every opportunity. Under this rubric animal welfarists become the enemy. The animals need all the friends that they can get. It has been an honor to be a member of such an august panel.