Mark Rowlands

Mark Rowlands (born 1962 in Newport, Wales ) is a British writer and professor of philosophy, who teaches at the University of Miami.

Biography

Rowlands first studied engineering at the University of Manchester. Then he turned to philosophy, where he earned his doctorate at the University of Oxford. Then followed various positions including at the University Colleg Cork in Ireland, the University of London in England and the United States.

Philosophy

Rowlands philosophy is based on the idea of a broad humanities (English: Extended Mind ). The idea behind this philosophy in the approach to go back to the American philosopher Hilary Putnam and discussed at the present time, especially in English-speaking circles. Two of her best-known representatives are the two philosopher David Chalmers and Andy Clark. Behind the idea of the extended mind lies the assumption that a cognitive structure and, consequently, also the processes that can extend over the body of a being beyond.

Rowlands, as well as Chalmers and Clark, go to their interpretation of the extended mind it one step further and formulated beyond the concept of active externalism (English: active externalism ) or also called vehicle externalism (vehicle externalism English). The active externalism would be doing a sequence resulting from the adoption of the extended mind, but in contrast to the latter refers to the content of a mental phenomenon.

Animal Ethical Position

Another central element of Rowlands ' philosophy is his defense of animal rights philosophy and its Speziesismuskritischen position. Rowlands offers in Animal Rights: Moral Theory and Practice (2009) kontraktualistisches an argument he presents in the intellectual tradition of the Theory of Justice by John Rawls. Because there are socially privileged people, is a Utilitarian ethics in favor of socially marginalized correct - so his interpretation of Rawls basic idea behind the concept of the veil of ignorance. He criticizes Rawls, that this will only recognize the economic Bessergestelltsein of people as a privilege and as well many other privileges, especially species belonging, naturalized and so deprives the possibility of reflection. By limiting case argument, this restriction on people let not morally justifiable.

Daniel Loewe has criticized this extension that Rowlands ' theory of justice, the inherent assumption of John Rawls that individuals in the original position from selfish motives coalesce around the " principles of Grechtigkeit " negotiate too far overused to still be considered as a contract theory in this sense. Rowlands ' proposal to imagine the negotiating subjects in the original position as a trans - species beings, ie as beings who negotiate as they did not know of their species membership, Loewe rejects on the grounds that can be an anthropocentric conception of these beings often detected in the writings of Rawls.

Loewe concludes also considering other contractarian approaches to animal ethics that contract theory can not in principle be able to establish subjective tierliche claims to justice.

Quote

The Barking Dog Principle:

" If it is neccessary for on organism to be able to perform a givenName adaptive task T, then it is disadvantageous for Selectively did organism to develop internal mechanisms Sufficient for the performance of T When it is possible for the organism to perform T by way of combination of internal mechanisms and manipulation of the external environment. "

The principle of the dog barking:

"If it is necessary for an organism to have the ability to perform a given task adaptive T, then it is selectively disadvantageous for the organism to develop internal mechanisms for the execution of T, if it is possible for the organism, T by perform a combination of internal mechanisms and manipulation of the external environment. "