Martin Balluch

Martin Balluch ( born October 12, 1964) is an Austrian animal ethicists and animal rights activist with a scientific background that is committed to be the chairman of the association against animal factories animal welfare and animal rights.

In a criminal of the crime under § 278a ( involvement in a criminal organization ), he has been acquitted on 2 May 2011 because of proven innocence. Since the end of June 2012, this acquittal is final.

Scientific career

Martin Balluch studied mathematics, physics and astronomy at the University of Vienna. He then received his PhD from the Ruprecht -Karls- University of Heidelberg in 1989 as a doctor of physics. From 1990 to 1997 he worked as an assistant alongside Stephen Hawking Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics ( DAMTP ) at Cambridge University. The second doctorate in philosophy took place in 2005 in the field of animal ethics.

In the years 1986-1997 Balluch published 14 papers in the fields of physics and astronomy.

Animal welfare commitment

His animal rights advocate Martin Balluch started in 1985 in Cambridge and since 1989 he is living vegan. In 1997 he returned to Vienna to coordinate the campaigns of the Association against Animal Factories (VGT ). In 1999 he was a co-founder of the Vegan Society Austria. Since 2002 he is the Chairman of the VGT. Balluch was consulted as an expert in animal welfare issues by the Austrian National Council and is active in animal protection teachers in secondary schools. He lectures internationally on the topics of animal ethics and activism, takes part in panel discussions and was set up by the Greens in the House of Representatives in 2008 as an independent candidate. He writes alongside guest contributions in other media regularly as editor in chief in the club magazine of the VGT animal protection consistently and moderated a week the animal rights radio at Radio Orange.

In 2007, Balluch with unusual court case attracted attention: By an application for guardianship for the chimpanzees " Hiasl " he wanted to explain to a monkey on the legal person and quasi- human. In case of success would Animals - depending on the degree of kinship to the people - some human rights and political rights, such as social assistance, health insurance, legal aid, inheritance and property rights and much more. can claim. Since the suits set the particular legal situation of the person and the right thing for animals in principle in question, the international media was enormous. The District Court of First Instance rejected even from the suit because of the chimpanzees the necessary conditions on Sachwalterschaft formally missing: birth certificate, a valid residence permit, identity documents. Balluch appeal before the Regional Court pointed out that there was no absolute compulsion documents such as in stateless refugees. The Regional Court could not approach its content and dismissed the action rather curious on the grounds that the chimp " Hiasl " do not be hampered and lack the substantive requirements of a guardianship. As was to proceed with actually disabled animals, the judgment was completely open. The Supreme Court did not deal with the revision and finally spoke Balluch the party position, which is why he was not entitled to such remedies. The case is now before the European Court of Human Rights. Due to the " judicial restraint" is not actually provided that a court against the intention of the legislation extending rights.

The philosopher Peter Singer sees Balluch " one of the leading spokesman of the global animal rights movement for a non-violent, democratic path of reform. " On 21 May 2008 Martin Balluch was during the so-called " animal welfare Causa " on charges of forming a criminal organization under the pseudonym Animal Liberation Front taken as one of ten activists of various organizations for over three months in custody. The arrest led to massive international protests. Together with 12 other animal rights activists, he stood by March 2, 2010 to May 2, 2011 at the Regional Court of Wiener Neustadt in court. The specificity of the method was that Martin Balluch and several other defendants were there any specific offenses, but merely the indirect promotion and support of unknown offenders accused by legal animal protection work. An undercover investigator that was denied to the proof of their existence by the defense of the authorities announced in December 2010 before the court that they had found in her 16 month long activity in the VGT no sign of criminal activity. By judgment of 2 May 2011, all 13 defendants of all charges were acquitted on all counts. Martin Balluch has about his experiences in connection with this criminal to book: Animal rights activists. Public Enemy - In the clutches of the police and judiciary. written.

Positions

Balluch represents a scientific and deontological approach to animal rights. He argues on the basis of the ethical paradigms of universality, freedom from dogma, contextual relevance of the justification of claims and consistency. When required because of certain characteristics fundamental rights for an individual, then the same rights for all individuals with the same conditions stipulated. He sees given in consciousness, since this presupposes the ability to personal interests prerequisite for fundamental rights (life, liberty and security ). Because fundamental rights are necessary for realizing interests generally, it is at least implicit benefit of all sentient beings have fundamental rights. The fact that some animals have interests he sees confirmed by modern behavioral research. That awareness could be artificially simulated not by powerful computers, it leads back to the Gödel's incompleteness. A similar argument was used and criticized in the 60s by Lucas for human rights.

Preference - Utilitarian approaches Balluch criticized in terms of their application to Justify fundamental rights. Preferences are always subjective, because they would only determine in terms of a system of preferences. An objective determination of a judgment of an action is not possible due to lack of an objective system of preferences.

Methodology

In view of the greatly discussed in animal rights circles question of the extent to ostensibly speciesist attitudes in society pragmatic concessions should be made Balluch seeks pragmatic approaches for gradual improvements. Although scientific and philosophical arguments are necessary for the movement, but on the other hand often too difficult to understand for people outside the animal rights movement. Internal specialist discourses and statements to the outside should be distinguished. Usable public communication should represent animal suffering as a problem and identify effective action Altera scopes that seem realistic and achievable. Ethical arguments that are still away from the social consensus would only cause alienation in communicating with people beyond the animal rights movement. This would lead to a bias against entering for Animal Ethics persons, thus hindering any further development for animals.

He argues that improvements in animal welfare not only much easier to reach than would an understanding of the argument of animal rights activists, but that the public awareness grows together with animal welfare regulations. A society in which animal products are not comfortable standard, but hardly available goods would be, was a prerequisite to conduct discourses about vegan attitudes useful.

Criticism

Animal rights abolitionists such as Lee Hall Gary L. Francione or criticize, however, that animal welfare is contrary to animal rights. Animal welfare requirements would confirm the livestock because they just criticize bad conditions, but the use would accept itself as a given. Policy for daily problems could cause any lasting improvement of ethical principles. Next abolitionists argue that animal welfare laws would even encourage the use of animals. Minimum concessions accountable to the needs of the animals concerned would replace a serious commitment to animal rights and veganism, as with the removal of most dissuasive conditions in factory farms is no fundamental need for change would be more obvious.

Honours - Awards

• 2012 Prix Mychkine / category " Work in progress " for his involvement in the field of animal ethics and animal rights

Publications

• Animal rights activists. Public Enemy - In the clutches of the police and judiciary. Promedia, Vienna, 2011. ISBN 978-3-85371-331-0
• Resistance in a democracy - Civil disobedience and confrontational campaigns. Promedia, Vienna, 2009. ISBN 978-3-85371-304-4.
• The continuity of consciousness. The scientific argument for animal rights. Guthmann - Peterson, Vienna, 2005. ISBN 3-900782-48-2. ( Submitted as PhD in philosophy. )
• Martin Balluch: Animals have a right to life. In: Altex. 23, No. 4, 2006, pp. 281-293.
• Martin Balluch, Eberhart Theuermann: Trial on personhood for chimp " Hiasl ". In: Altex. 24, No. 4, 2007, pp. 335-342.
• Quantification of lower stratospheric mixing processes using aircraft data. Balluch, M., and Haynes, PH: Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, accepted, 1997.
• Refraction and Atmospheric Photochemistry. Balluch, M. and Lary, DJ: Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, accepted, 1997.
• A new numerical model to compute photolysis rates and solar heating with anisotropic scattering in spherical geometry. Annales Geophysicae, 14, 80-97, 1996.
• Adaptive Numerical Advection. The co -ordinate transformation method. In Comp. Phys. Comm. , Thematical Issue on Numerical Methods in Astrophysical Hydrodynamics, ed WJ Duschl and W. M. Tscharnuter, 89, no. 1-3, 91-117, 1995.
• Reply to the comments on solar heating rates: the, importance of spherical geometry '. Balluch, M. and Lary, D. J.: J. Atmos. Sci., 52, 3-15, 1994.
• Solar heating rates: the, importance of spherical geometry. Lary, D. J., and Balluch M., J. Atmos. Sci., 50, 3983-3993, 1993.
• Stability of protostellar Akkretionsstroemungen. PhD in Physics, University of Heidelberg, 1989.
• Solar heating after a volcanic eruption: the, importance of SO2 absorption. Lary, DJ, Balluch, M., and Bekki, S.: QJ Roy. Meteorologist. Soc., 120, 1683-1688, 1994.
• Protostellar evolution. I. The Behaviour of the Eddington factor and the accretion shock. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 200, 58-74, 1988.
• Radiative energy transport in protostellar Cases. Thesis in Astronomy, University of Vienna, Austria, 1987.
• Numerical solution of a differential equation first order with the method of characteristics using the example of the radiative transfer equation. Thesis in Mathematics, University of Vienna, Austria, 1986.