Sue Donaldson (also known as Susan Cliffe; born 1962) is a Canadian writer and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. She is a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

affiliated with the Department of Philosophy at Queen's University, where she is the co-founder of the Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (APPLE) research cluster.

Biography

Donaldson was born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in 1962, and has lived most of her life in Eastern Ontario. She currently lives in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

with her husband, Will Kymlicka.

Writing

Donaldson is a philosopher of

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 ...

. She published a vegan cookbook, ''Foods That Don't Bite Back'', in 2003. She has also co-authored numerous articles in peer-reviewed

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

s on the topic of animal rights.In 2004, she published a

young adult novel Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

, ''Threads of Deceit'', under the name Susan Cliffe. This monograph is a

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

and mystery novel set in nineteenth century

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. She published ''Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights'', co-written with Will Kymlicka, in 2011. In this book, as well as their other co-authored work on

animal ethics Animal ethics is a branch of ethics which examines human-animal relationships, the moral consideration of animals and how nonhuman animals ought to be treated. The subject matter includes animal rights, animal welfare, animal law, speciesism, an ...

, Donaldson and Kymlicka argue for a group-differentiated political conception of animal rights. Drawing upon

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

theory, they argue that although all animals should be protected by the same fundamental rights, individual animals should have different rights (and different responsibilities) depending on their group membership. Animals who form a part of mixed human/animal society (''

domesticated Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a steady supply of reso ...

'' animals) should be conceived of as ''citizens'', while animals who are reliant upon the mixed society without being a part of it (''liminal'' animals) should be conceived of as ''denizens''.

Wild animals Wildlife refers to undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also ...

, who live wholly or mostly separately from the mixed human/animal society, should be conceived of as ''sovereign'' over their own territory. Intervention to reduce wild animal suffering would accordingly be acceptable if compatible with respect for their

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

Awards

In 2013, she won the Canadian Philosophical Association's Book Prize, with Will Kymlicka, for their book ''Zoopolis''.

Selected publications

*''Foods That Don't Bite Back: Vegan Cooking Made Simple''. Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 2003. *''Thread of Deceit'' (as Susan Cliffe). Toronto: Sumach Press, 2004. *''Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. (With Will Kymlicka) *''Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers' Brief'', Routledge, 2018. (With Kristin Andrews, Gary Comstock, G. K. D. Crozier, Andrew Fenton, Tyler John, L. Syd M Johnson, Robert Jones, Will Kymlicka, Letitia Meynell, Nathan Nobis, David Pena-Guzman, and Jeff Sebo)

References

External links

Sue Donaldson
at The Writers' Union of Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Sue 1962 births Living people Animal ethicists Canadian animal rights scholars Canadian cookbook writers 20th-century Canadian philosophers 21st-century Canadian philosophers Canadian political philosophers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian women non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian women novelists Canadian writers of young adult literature Canadian women writers of young adult literature 21st-century pseudonymous writers Plant-based diet advocates Pseudonymous women writers Vegan cookbook writers Novelists from Ottawa