Steve F. Sapontzis

American philosopher

Rice University (BA, 1967)
Yale University (MPhil, 1970; PhD, 1971)

Notable workMorals, Reason, and AnimalsSpouse

Jeanne Marie Gocker

(m.

Animal ethics
environmental ethics
meta-ethics

Websitewww.stevesapontzis.com

Steven Frederic Sapontzis^[2] (born February 9, 1945) is an American philosopher and professor emeritus of philosophy at California State University, East Bay who specializes in animal ethics, environmental ethics and meta-ethics.

Life and career

Sapontzis was born in New York City, the son of Zissis Peter and Lea Marie Vial Sapontzis.^[1] He obtained his BA from Rice University in 1967, his MPhil in 1970, and PhD from Yale University in 1971;^[3] his thesis was entitled Merleau-Ponty and Philosophical Methodology.^[4] Sapontzis joined the philosophy faculty at California State University, East Bay, in 1971, and became professor emeritus in 1999.^[3]

Sapontzis was co-founder in 1985 of the journal Between the Species: A Journal of Ethics and served as its initial co-editor.^[5] He was a member of the board of the American Philosophical Quarterly (1991–1994), and sat on the animal welfare research committee at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (1986–1990).^[6]

In 1983, Sapontzis founded, with his wife, the Hayward Friends of Animals Humane society.^[7] They now operate Second Chance, Helping the Pets of People in the Need, in California.^[7] Sapontzis was also one of the first members of the board of directors of the Society for the Study of Ethics and Animals.^[1]

Sapontzis has authored numerous papers,^[8] as well as two books: Morals, Reason, and Animals (1987)^[9] and Subjective Morals (2011).^[10] He also edited the book Food for Thought: The Debate over Eating Meat (2004).^[11]

Selected publications

Books

Morals, Reason, and Animals. Temple University Press, 1987.
(ed.) Food for Thought: The Debate over Eating Meat. Prometheus Books, 2004.
Subjective Morals. University Press of America, 2011.

Papers

Sapontzis, S. F. (1977). "Direct Perception, Some Further Comments". Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 37 (4): 556–565. doi:10.2307/2106436. ISSN 0031-8205. JSTOR 2106436.
Sapontzis, S. F. (1978). "A Note on Merleau-Ponty's "Ambiguity"". Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 38 (4): 538–543. doi:10.2307/2106575. ISSN 0031-8205. JSTOR 2106575.
Sapontzis, S. F. (1980). "Are Animals Moral Beings?". American Philosophical Quarterly. 17 (1): 45–52. ISSN 0003-0481. JSTOR 20009783.
Sapontzis, S. F. (1981). "A Critique of Personhood". Ethics. 91 (4): 607–618. doi:10.1086/292273. ISSN 0014-1704. JSTOR 2380296. S2CID 170292757.
Sapontzis, S. F. (1983). "Moral Value and Reason". The Monist. 66 (1): 146–159. doi:10.5840/monist19836616. ISSN 0026-9662. JSTOR 27902793.
Sapontzis, S. F. (1984). "Predation". Ethics and Animals. 5 (2): 27–38. doi:10.15368/ea.1984v5n2.1. ISSN 0197-9094.
Sapontzis, Steve F. (1985). "Moral Community and Animal Rights". American Philosophical Quarterly. 22 (3): 251–257. ISSN 0003-0481. JSTOR 20014103.
Sapontzis, S. F. (1987). "Moral Relativism: A Causal Interpretation and Defense". American Philosophical Quarterly. 24 (4): 329–337. ISSN 0003-0481. JSTOR 20014210.
Sapontzis, Steve F. (1990). "Groundwork for a Subjective Theory of Ethics". American Philosophical Quarterly. 27 (1): 27–38. ISSN 0003-0481. JSTOR 20014309.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Steve F. Sapontzis Papers 1978-2001: Summary". NC State University Libraries. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
^ "Books". Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1972: January-June. Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1974. p. 1318.
^ ^a ^b "Directory of Emeritus Faculty" (PDF). California State University, East Bay. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
^ Sapontzis, Steve Frederic. "Merleau-Ponty and Philosophical Methodology". ProQuest. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
^ Stockwell, John (1985). "Editorial". Between the Species 1 (1): 1–2.
^ "Morals, Reason and Animals: Steve Sapontzis interviewed by Claudette Vaughan". abolitionist-online. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Woodhall, Andrew; Trindade, Gabriel Garmendia da, eds. (2017). Ethical and Political Approaches to Nonhuman Animal Issues. Springer. p. 96. ISBN 978-3-319-54549-3.
^ "Steve F. Sapontzis Papers, 1978-2001: Contents". NC State University Libraries. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
^ "Morals, Reason, and Animals". Temple University Press. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
^ "Subjective Morals". Rowman & Littlefield. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
^ Haynes, Richard P. (2008). "Food for Thought. The Debate over Eating Meat by Steve F. Sapontzis" (PDF). Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 21: 99–105. doi:10.1007/s10806-007-9056-7.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Steve F. Sapontzis.

Official website
Interview with Claudette Vaughan
30 years since the publication of Morals, reason and animals – Animal Ethics

Animal rights

Topics (overviews, concepts, issues, cases)

Overviews

Concepts

Issues

Animal agriculture	Animal product Battery cage Bile bear Chick culling Concentrated animal feeding operation Fish farming Fur farming Fur trade Insect farming Intensive animal farming Intensive pig farming Livestock Poultry farming Slaughterhouse Wildlife farming Working animal Feedback (pork industry) Foam depopulation Ventilation shutdown
Animal testing	Alternatives to animal testing Animal testing on non-human primates Animal testing regulations Labcorp Drug Development Great ape research ban Green Scare Huntingdon Life Sciences Model organism Nafovanny Operation Backfire Vivisection
Animal welfare	Animal euthanasia Cruelty to animals Pain in animals Pain in amphibians Pain in cephalopods Pain in crustaceans Pain in fish Pain in invertebrates Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Welfare of farmed insects
Fishing	Commercial fishing Fishing bait Recreational fishing
Wild animals	Culling wildlife Hare coursing Hunting International primate trade Ivory trade Predation problem Seal hunting Wild animal suffering Wildlife management
Other	Abandoned pets Animal sacrifice Animal slaughter Animal trial Animals in sport Live food Live export

Cases

Methodologies

Observances

Advocates (academics, writers, activists)

Academics
and writers

Contemporary

Historical

Activists

Contemporary

Historical

Movement (groups, parties)

Groups

Contemporary

Historical

Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society
Canadian Anti-Vivisection Society
Humanitarian League (1891–1919)
Oxford Group

Parties

Animal Justice Party (Australia)
Animal Politics EU (Europe)
Animal Protection Party of Canada (Canada)
Animal Justice Party of Finland (Finland)
Animals' Party (Sweden)
Animalist Movement (Italy)
Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (Spain)
DierAnimal (Belgium)
Human Environment Animal Protection (Germany)
Italian Animalist Party (Italy)
Party for the Animals (Netherlands)
People Animals Nature (Portugal)
V-Partei³ (Germany)

Activism

Animal Rights National Conference

Media (books, films, periodicals, albums)

Books

On Abstinence from Eating Animals (3rd century)
Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824)
The Rights of Animals (1838)
Animals' Rights (1892)
Evolutional Ethics and Animal Psychology (1897)
The Universal Kinship (1906)
The New Ethics (1907)
Animals, Men and Morals (1971)
Animal Liberation (1975)
The Case for Animal Rights (1983)
Morals, Reason, and Animals (1987)
Zoos and Animal Rights (1993)
Animals, Property, and the Law (1995)
The Lives of Animals (1999)
Eternal Treblinka (2001)
Do Animals Have Rights? (2005)
Striking at the Roots (2008)
An American Trilogy (2009)
An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory (2010)
Animal Rights Without Liberation (2012)
Political Animals and Animal Politics (2014)
Animal (De)liberation (2016)
Sentientist Politics (2018)
Wild Animal Ethics (2020)
Animal Ethics in the Wild (2022)
Making a Stand for Animals (2022)

Films

The Animals Film (1981)
A Cow at My Table (1998)
Shores of Silence (2000)
The Witness (2000)
Meet Your Meat (2002)
Legally Blonde 2 (2003)
The Meatrix (2003)
Peaceable Kingdom (2004)
Earthlings (2005)
Behind the Mask (2006)
Your Mommy Kills Animals (2007)
The Cove (2009)
Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home (2009)
Forks Over Knives (2011)
Vegucated (2011)
An Apology to Elephants (2013)
Speciesism: The Movie (2013)
The Ghosts in Our Machine (2013)
Unlocking the Cage (2016)
Dominion (2018)
Seaspiracy (2021)

Periodicals

Journals	Animal Sentience Between the Species Cahiers antispécistes Etica & Animali Journal of Animal Ethics Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism The Animals' Defender
Magazines	Arkangel Bite Back Muutoksen kevät No Compromise Satya