Michael Carrick is a Ph.D. student studying philosophy at the University of Rochester. Before moving to Rochester to pursue a doctorate, Michael received an M.A. in philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a B.A. in philosophy at the University of Vermont. His main research interests are focused on issues in applied ethics, particularly animal ethics, bioethics, and environmental ethics, as well as metaethics and political philosophy.
What are you working on right now?
My primary project right now concerns animal welfare. I am exploring the idea that there is no single understanding of welfare, or wellbeing, that can be appropriately applied across a vast array of creatures that have very different cognitive and emotional capacities. Or, put in more practical terms, when considering how to understand the wellbeing of different nonhuman animals, before determining which particular theory of wellbeing is most appropriate, we must first look at their capacities, and then measure wellbeing given the theory that is most appropriate for such creatures. In turn, this pluralistic notion of welfare could seemingly have significant ramifications for issues in applied animal ethics; particularly on how such an understanding of welfare will affect discussions about the badness of death for nonhuman animals, and relatedly, the badness of killing animals.
A second project that I have been working on relates to questions about the concept of moral status. In particular, I am curious about how to think about different thresholds of moral status, whether there can be any moral status higher than personhood, and, if so, whether we can describe or conceptualize this higher moral status.
What topic do you think is under explored in philosophy?
One topic I have been think about recently, and haven’t seen much about in the philosophical literature, is how to think about the identity conditions of nonhuman animals. I suspect that many people would pretheoretically apply a physical or organismic criterion of identity to animals with lower cognitive capacities, such as mice, while applying a psychological criterion to persons, and nonhuman animals with similar cognitive capacities, such as Gorillas. I think there are lots of interesting questions about whether one can provide a philosophical account that tracks such pretheoretically intuitions about animal identity, while giving a compelling account of what grounds the different criteria of identity.
Who is your favorite philosopher and why?
I would have to say that the biggest influence on my thinking has been the late Derek Parfit, with Jeff McMahan and Robert Nozick competing for a close second. I suspect that some others reading this will understand what it is like to read some ‘mind-blowing’ philosophy. This is exactly what I experienced reading Reasons and Personsfor the first time. Both his discussion of personal identity, and the non-identity problem, significantly changed the way I think about personal identity and certain applied ethical questions.
What are you reading right now? Would you recommend it?
I am currently reading four books. I am finishing up Henry Sidgwick’s Outlines of the History of Ethics, which has been an informative read, but not something I would recommend unless one has an interest in an accessible and easy source overviewing the medieval and early British ethicists.
I am slowly working my way through Heidegger’sHistory of the Concept of Time, which I would recommend to anyone who wants to read Heidegger but is worried about his inaccessible prose. I have found this work much easier going than some of his other works.
On the fiction side of things, I am reading Louis-Ferdinand Céline’sJourney to the End of the Night, which is my first foray into his work. The book reminds me of a blend between Charles Bukowski and Franz Kafka, so if you enjoy either of those writers, I suspect you will enjoy this book.
Lastly, I have been reading Robert Ludlum’s The Sigma Protocol, which I have found quite entertaining, but would only recommend if one wants to read a somewhat generic international espionage thriller.
What books are currently on your ‘to read’ list?
Philosophically, the two books I plan on reading next are Animals and the Moral Communityby Gary Steiner, and Pleasure and the Good Life by Fred Feldman.
Non-Philosophically, two books that I aim to pick up soon are The Slaveby Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Humiliated and Insulted by Dostoevsky.
When did you last sing to yourself, or to someone else?
I sing to my two cats, Ziggy Ebenezer Wangman and Olive, multiple times a day. Generally I will just insert their names into whatever song is stuck in my head. From what I can tell, their favorite is when I sing them the “Day Man” song from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
If you could be anyone else for a day, who would that be and why?
I would probably choose to be the richest person in the world. I would spend the day donating billions of dollars to worthy causes.
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
