Conversation with Dr. Paul Waldau (vegan): Animal-People Studies in Religion, Science, Ethics, and Law, Part 1 of 2

Dr. Paul Waldau is an American interdisciplinary scholar whose work spans ethics, law, and religion, with a focus on speciesism and the moral dimensions of human–animal-people relationships. Among his publications are “The Specter of Speciesism,” “A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics,” “Animal Rights: What Everyone Needs to Know,” and “Animal Studies: An Introduction,” as well as the forthcoming “The Animal Invitation: Science, Ethics, Religion and Law in a More-than-Human World.”

“And I did a study of how the Christian tradition, on the one hand, and how the Buddhist tradition, on the other hand, solved, over their many, many centuries of existence, the question of humans’ relationship to the other living beings.” “I think one set of traditions that are not particularly well studied have something special to offer, and that is the indigenous traditions from around the world over the last three or four millennia. They often have the most amazing knowledge of the animals.” Dr. Waldau explains that every religion, at its highest expression, embodies compassion and care for animal-citizens. “The East Asian traditions are very, very much into the moral nature of the universe and of deep commitments to be the most that we can be. Particularly in the Indian subcontinent, you can find the series of stories known as the Jātakas, which are stories about animals.”

“In ‘The Animal Invitation,’ I wanted to point out that other living beings invite us to be caring, communal, informed, and that there are traditions that don’t do that particularly well.” “And I think when we live a life of generosity, we ourselves benefit – that’s what makes it living. And what makes it deadening is when we fail to notice that there are other living beings who, like us, need people to understand them and treat them well.”