Contractarianism, Other-regarding Attitudes, and the Moral Standing of Nonhuman Animals

abstract  Contractarianism roots moral standing in an agreement among rational agents in the circumstances of justice. Critics have argued that the theory must exclude nonhuman animals from the protection of justice. I argue that contractarianism can consistently accommodate the notion that nonhuman animals are owed direct moral consideration. They can acquire their moral status indirectly, but their claims to justice can be as stringent as those among able-bodied rational adult humans. Any remaining criticisms of contractarianism likely rest on a disputable moral realism; contractarianism can underwrite the direct moral considerability of nonhuman animals by appealing to a projectivist quasi-realism.     

Chaos Theory and Its Application to Vocational Counseling: A Critical Reappraisal

This article critically examines some of the claims of chaos theory from the perspective of the philosophy of science. Chaos theory uses scientific terminology, but it is possibly better described as a metaphysical belief or value orientation. Some of the concepts developed by chaos theory are of great interest and may be useful in counseling. These concepts, however, are not always clear and consistent, and the theory could become the repository of all kinds of untestable and even antiscientific notions.     

Counseling: Practices and Practitioners

SRI International, formerly Stanford Research Institute, has been evaluating the impact of employment counseling in the mid 1970s in response to national shifts in organizational emphasis and funding.