Philosophy For Our Times A new theory of ethics | Martha Nussbaum
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Apr 6, 2026 A philosopher argues for a moral reawakening around widespread animal harms, from factory farming to plastic-driven whale deaths. Vivid animal stories — an elephant, a whale, and a sow — illuminate injustice and provoke outrage. A new capabilities-based ethical framework for nonhuman life is proposed, with legal and policy implications like ending confinement systems and reducing environmental threats.
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Virginia The Elephant Poaching Story
- Martha Nussbaum recounts Virginia the elephant who loves music and is later killed for her tusks, illustrating poaching's brutality.
- Joyce Poole describes Virginia's affinity for Amazing Grace and the herd's futile attempts to comfort her after she is mutilated and her calf stolen.
Hal The Humpback Starved By Plastic
- Nussbaum describes Hal the humpback whose complex singing and social life end when he dies after ingesting 88 pounds of plastic.
- Plastic creates a false fullness, leading to starvation and a calcified 'plastic brick' in his stomach.
Empress Of Blandings Versus Gestation Crates
- The Empress of Blandings contrasts a beloved show pig with sows confined in gestation crates unable to move or socialize.
- Nussbaum cites gestation crates' effects: muscle loss, stereotypic bar-biting, and deprivation of normal defecation and social behavior.