Catia Faria (born 1980) is a Portuguese

moral philosopher Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied ethics ...

and activist for

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. She is assistant professor in Applied Ethics at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

, and is a board member of the UPF-Centre for Animal Ethics. Faria specialises in

normative Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A Norm (philosophy), norm in this sense means a standard for evaluatin ...

and

applied ethics Applied ethics is the practical aspect of morality, moral considerations. It is ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law, and leadership. For ex ...

, especially focusing on how they apply to the moral consideration of non-human animals. In 2022, she published her first book, '' Animal Ethics in the Wild: Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature''.

Education

Faria earned a B.A. in Philosophy from the

University of Porto The University of Porto (''Universidade do Porto'') is a Portuguese public research university located in Porto, and founded on 22 March 1911. It is the second largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students, after the University ...

, a M.A. in Cognitive Sciences from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Moral Philosophy from

Pompeu Fabra University Pompeu Fabra University (, ; ) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. Established in 1990 by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia and named after Pompeu Fabra, it is known for its competitiveness in resea ...

. Faria's thesis was the first of its kind to defend the idea that humans should help non-human animals in the wild to reduce the problem of

wild animal suffering Wild animal suffering is suffering experienced by non-human animals living in the wild, outside of direct human control, due to natural processes. Its sources include disease, injury, parasitism, starvation, malnutrition, dehydration, weather ...

; it was assessed by Genoveva Martí, Alasdair Cochrane and Jeff McMahan, and supervised by Paula Casal,

Oscar Horta 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 non ...

, and Joao Cardoso Rosas.

Career

Faria is assistant professor in Applied Ethics at the

. She formerly worked as a postdoctoral researcher for the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology at the

University of Minho The University of Minho (''Universidade do Minho'') is a public university in Minho Province, Portugal. It is divided into the following campuses: * Largo do Paço (rectorate), in Braga * Campus of Gualtar, in Braga * Convento dos Congregados, i ...

, as lecturer in Ethics and Sustainability at

, and was a visiting researcher at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. In 2015, Faria co-edited, with Eze Paez, a double volume of the journal '' Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism'', on the problem of wild animal suffering and ways to reduce it. She has also authored articles for the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

's ''Practical Ethics'' blog; ''Nietzsche's Horse'', the Spanish online newspaper '' ElDiario.es's'' blog on animal issues; and '' Pikara Magazine'', the online feminist magazine. In 2020, Faria co-authored, with Oscar Horta, a chapter on welfare biology in ''The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics''. Her first book, '' Animal Ethics in the Wild: Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature'', was published in 2022.

Philosophy

Faria is critical of the

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

view that nature should be left alone and argues that environmentalists intervene in nature constantly for

anthropocentric Anthropocentrism ( ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity on the planet. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. From a ...

benefit and to further their own aims; she asserts that animal and environmental ethics are incompatible because of their differing moral consideration of non-human animals. Faria claims that those who reject

speciesism Speciesism () is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions. Some specifically define speciesism as discrimination or unjustified treatment based on an indivi ...

should give moral consideration to the well-being and interests of non-human animals in the wild, as

sentient beings Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations. It may not necessarily imply higher cognitive functions such as awareness, reasoning, or complex thought processes. Some writers define sentience exclusively as the capacity for ''v ...

, and work towards reducing their suffering due to natural causes. Faria argues that both

intersectional feminism Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...

and antispeciesism are necessary in the fight for equality and justice. She is the originator of the concept of "xenozoopolis"; a hybrid of xenofeminism and antispeciesism, which calls for the abolition of the "human-alien binary". Faria also asserts that a feminist approach towards antispeciesism implies a commitment to

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

. Faria distances herself from

ecofeminism Ecofeminism integrates feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyze relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in her 1974 ...

, which she criticises for its view that the main source of harm for non-human animals in the wild is patriarchal culture and that the best way to help them is through conservation, as this is built on the premise that nature and natural processes are idyllic for non-human animals. Faria argues that this view of nature is inaccurate and that suffering is commonly experienced by these individuals. She asserts that while we should replace the existing male paradigms of intervention in nature, such as

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, this does not mean that the solution is non-intervention. She instead contends that we should work towards helping these individuals.

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

*
Catia Faria
publications on elDiario.es
Catia Faria
publications on

Medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...