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Oscar Horta

Spanish animal activist and moral philosopher (born 1974) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oscar Horta
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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Horta and the second or maternal family name is Álvarez.

Oscar Horta (born Óscar Horta Álvarez; 7 May 1974) is a Spanish animal activist and moral philosopher. He is a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Santiago de Compostela and a co-founder of the nonprofit organisation Animal Ethics. Active in vegan and antispeciesist advocacy since the mid-1990s, Horta has worked with several Spanish animal rights groups and has served on the advisory boards of international organisations concerned with animal ethics and suffering.

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Horta is known for his contributions to contemporary debates on speciesism, animal ethics, and the moral significance of wild animal suffering. He has argued for the moral consideration of all sentient beings and supports responsible intervention in nature to reduce suffering among wild animals. His work has been influential in shaping the academic discourse on these issues, and he is regarded as one of the leading figures in the field. In 2022, he published his first book in English, Making a Stand for Animals.

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Education

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Horta delivering a lecture "Intervention in Nature in Ethics and/or Politics: Addressing Issues Related to Non-human Animals" in 2015

Horta completed an undergraduate degree in philosophy at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) in 1999, going on to complete a doctorate in philosophy at the same institution in 2007. His thesis was entitled Un desafío para la bioética: la cuestión del especismo ("A Challenge to Bioethics: The Issue of Speciesism"). In 2007, he won the Ferrater Mora Prize from the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, for his essay on the ethics of Catalan philosopher José Ferrater Mora.[1]

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Career

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Horta has been active in vegan and antispeciesist advocacy since the mid-1990s.[2]

From 2005 to 2009, Horta was a lecturer in the Department of Logic and Moral Philosophy at USC. He subsequently took up a visiting researcher position at Rutgers University from 2009 to 2010 and a research fellowship at the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology from 2009 to 2011. He returned to USC in 2011 as a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Anthropology, becoming a professor in 2018.[3]

Horta co-founded the animal advocacy organisation Animal Ethics in 2012.[4] He has also acted as an organiser and spokesperson for the Spanish animal rights organisations Derechos para los Animales ("Rights for Animals") and Alternativa para la Liberación Animal ("Alternative for Animal Liberation");[5] these organisations later merged to form Equanimal.[6]

Horta is a member of the advisory board for the Sentience Institute, UPF-Centre for Animal Ethics, and Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering.[3]

In 2022, Horta published Making a Stand for Animals, his first English-language book. It explores ethical questions concerning human attitudes and behaviours toward nonhuman animals. It focuses on the concept of speciesism, and examines how this influences the treatment of animals. The book discusses the use of animals by humans, the issue of wild animal suffering, and the moral implications of extending consideration to all sentient beings. It presents arguments in favour of reevaluating prevailing assumptions about animals and their interests.[7]

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Philosophical work

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Speciesism

Main article: Speciesism

Horta has defined speciesism as discrimination against those who do not belong to one or more species, understanding by discrimination an unjustified unequal consideration or treatment.[8] This is a normative account of the concept. According to Horta, if treating animals of different species in different ways is justified, then it cannot be considered discriminatory and it is not an instance of speciesism.[9] Horta's account also denies that speciesism is confined to discrimination on the basis of species alone. Horta's account regards as speciesist all forms of discrimination against those who are not members of a certain species regardless of whether the reason is mere species membership or other reasons, such as the possession of complex cognitive abilities.[10] He argued in favor of this position by analogy to sexism or racism, which typically include discrimination against women or racialized people based on criteria such as their alleged capacities and not only gender, sex, ancestry, or physical traits.[11] Horta's account of speciesism is also similar to Joan Dunayer's but unlike Paul Waldau's in that he also argued that discrimination against nonhuman animals is only one instance of speciesism, which can be referred to as anthropocentric speciesism, because it is also possible to discriminate against some nonhuman animals in comparison to others in ways that are speciesist.[12][13][14]

Wild animal suffering

Main article: Wild animal suffering

Horta argues that, contrary to what he describes as an idyllic view of the wilderness,[15] animals suffer significantly in nature from disease, predation, exposure, starvation, and other threats. Horta rejects speciesism, and thus argues that we have good reason to intervene in natural processes to protect animals from this suffering when it is possible to do so without causing more harm.[16][17][18] Current ways of helping include rescues of animals during natural disasters, centres for orphaned, sick, and injured animals, and vaccination and feeding programs.[19] Horta argued that such initiatives could be expanded, and that in order to avoid controversies with environmentalists opposing such initiatives, pilot programs could start by focusing on wild animals living in urban, suburban, or agricultural environments.[20] He also argued that the most promising courses of action right now may consist in gaining more knowledge about the conditions causing wild animal suffering and about how to best carry out measures that can improve the situation of animals affected by natural, or a combination of natural and indirectly anthropogenic, causes.[21] Horta's work on wild animal suffering has been influential,[22] with Jeff McMahan, whose work on wild animal suffering, "The Meat Eaters", appeared in The New York Times, attributing his interest in the question to Horta.[23]

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Personal life

Horta is vegan and commented that "the reason why I decided to go vegan was that I was presented with what I saw as strong arguments to do so, not that I was feeling empathy towards nonhuman animals."[24]

Selected works

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Horta has published philosophical works in Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, English, Italian, French, and German.[3]

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See also

References

External links

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