For an anti-speciesist integral environmental education law

Contributions from philosophy, ethics and education

Abstract

As philosophy teachers we have been tackling in our classes the Integral Environmental Education Law that governs our country, from an anti speciesist perspective. Taking this recent law into account, we have actively sought the promotion of knowledge and educational experiences in higher education institutions through its incorporation in the curricular units (Philosophy and Education and Ethics and Citizenship Building, respectively). This article departs from the following factum: environmental education does not recognize speciesism or carnism as a problem, even more, it tends to make the problem invisible. On this ground, we will propose arguments that challenge speciesism on the basis of the concept of sentience, which impose on us the duty to morally consider and not to harm all sentient beings. Once admitted this latter, we move towards the question of the rights of nature, asserting, in tension with environmental ethics, that non-human animals are bearers of rights and respecting them is essential for “good living”. In the final sections, we will look at singular school situations that reflect the ideology of carnism. Drawing from a counter-cruelty pedagogy, we propose the need for teacher-training that makes visible the logics of cruelty naturalized in school culture, in order to promote transformations that foster relationships of compassion and empathy.