The Firth Lectures 2021 Day 2

The Firth Lectures

This is the second of two live Q&A events for the 2021 Firth Lectures on the theme:

Humans and Animals: Boundary Questions and Why They are Significant for Theology and Ethics from Prof. Celia Deane-Drummond, Senior Research Fellow and Director of Laudato Si' Research Institute at Campion Hall, University of Oxford. 

Pre-recorded lectures are available to view on The Firth Lectures webpage. These should be watched prior to attending the Q&A sessions. The live Q&A's will be held on Microsoft Teams to discuss the topic of each lecture. 

Humans are Animals but Are Animals Persons? Implications for Theological Ethics. 

In this lecture Prof. Deane-Drummond tackles the difficult philosophical question of the place of animals in the moral sphere. Although often forgotten, reminding ourselves that we are animals is relatively uncontroversial compared with the idea of extending personhood to other animals. She argues that if personhood is extended it should not be confused with divine image bearing. While some theologians have become nervous about using any language about divine image bearing on the basis it could lead to an unhelpful sense of human superiority, she considers that such nervousness undercuts the distinctive contribution that Christian theology can make to the discussion. Divine image bearing is, like wisdom, a complex term that has its own chequered history of interpretation. But image bearing is also a reminder that human persons bear a special moral responsibility in a multi-species community in a way that personhood alone does not. Enlarging a notion of personhood may broaden the moral sphere, but it does not tell us how to act.

To join the Q&A get your ticket on Eventbrite by following this link.