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Timeline of wild-animal suffering

No change in size, 19:47, 25 July 2019
removing ze pronouns
| 1874 || || Publication || John Stuart Mill's essay "On Nature" is published posthumously. The essay discusses the amorality and cruelty of nature and argues that humans should struggle against it.<ref>JS Mill. On Nature.</ref>
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| 1973 || {{dts|June 14}} || Publication || [[wikipedia:Peter Singer|Peter Singer]] responds to a question about predation, arguing against interference in practice because the long-term consequences of intervention cannot be predicted. However, ze he accepts that intervention to reduce wild-animal suffering would be morally justified if one could be reasonably confident that the long-term effects would be positive.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Singer|first1=Peter|title=Food for Thought|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1973/jun/14/food-for-thought/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509205824/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1973/06/14/food-for-thought/<!--https://archive.fo/WkUXS-->|archivedate=2018-05-09|deadurl=no|journal=The New York Review of Books|date=June 14, 1973}}</ref>
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| 1979 || || Publication || [[wikipedia:Stephen R. L. Clark|Stephen R. L. Clark]]'s article "The Rights of Wild Things" is published. It argues that humans should defend wild animals against unusually large dangers, but should not try to regulate all of nature.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/00201747908601871|last1=Clark|first1=Stephen R. L.|title= The Rights of Wild Things|journal=Inquiry|volume=22|number=1-4|pages=171-188|year=1979|publisher=Routledge|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Clark%20-%20The%20rights%20of%20wild%20things.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722002829/http://www.stafforini.com/docs/Clark%20-%20The%20rights%20of%20wild%20things.pdf|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no|quote=It has been argued that if non‐human animals had rights we should be obliged to defend them against predators. I contend that this either does not follow, follows in the abstract but not in practice, or is not absurd. We should defend non‐humans against large or unusual dangers, when we can, but should not claim so much authority as to regulate all the relationships of wild things.}}</ref>
| 1993 || {{dts|June}} || Publication || David Olivier publishes the article "Pourquoi je ne suis pas écologiste" (Why I am not an environmentalist) in the French animal rights journal ''Les Cahiers antispécistes''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |title=Pourquoi je ne suis pas écologiste |trans-title= Why I am not an environmentalist |journal= Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=June 1993 |volume=7 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/pourquoi-je-ne-suis-pas-ecologiste/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016183648/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/pourquoi-je-ne-suis-pas-ecologiste/ |archivedate=2017-10-16 | deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
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| 1995 || || Publication || Economist [[wikipedia:Yew-Kwang Ng|Yew-Kwang Ng]]'s paper "Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering" is published in ''Biology and Philosophy''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ng|first=Yew-Kwang|title=Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering|journal=Biology and Philosophy|year=1995|volume=10|issue=3|pages=255–285|url=https://www.stafforini.com/library/ng-1995.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622113129/https://www.stafforini.com/library/ng-1995.pdf|archivedate=2018-06-22<!--http://www.webcitation.org/713tcQYz0 (downloads as attachment), https://archive.is/K4xZa (somewhat screwed up as it's a Google Cache of a PDF)-->|deadurl=no|doi=10.1007/BF00852469}}</ref> Ng introduces the term "welfare biology" (cf. [[wikipedia:conservation biology|conservation biology]]), which ze he defines as the positive study of the well-being of affectively sentient individuals. Ze He discusses which species possess affective sentience. Ng then mentions that many species produce a large number of offspring, only a few of which survive to maturity. The paper argues that non-survivors suffer negative welfare. Since non-survivors greatly outnumber survivors, Ng considers this evidence in favor of the "Buddhist premise" (that wild animals experience more total suffering than happiness).
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| 1995 || || Publication || [[wikipedia:David Pearce (philosopher)|David Pearce]] publishes zirs transhumanist manifesto ''The Hedonistic Imperative'', which argues that biotechnology can and should be used to eliminate the experience of suffering.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pearce, David|title=The Hedonistic Imperative|url=https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527232626/https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archivedate=2018-05-27|deadurl=no|date=1995|publisher=hedweb.com}}</ref> It includes a section on wild-animal suffering.
| 1998 || {{dts|October 20}} || Presentation || David Olivier of ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' discusses wild-animal suffering at a debate at the Maison de l’Écologie in Lyon.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |title= Contribution au débat à la maison de l’écologie |trans-title=Contribution to the debate at the Maison de l’Écologie |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=April 1999 |volume=17 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contribution-au-debat-a-la-maison-de-lecologie/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102133652/http://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org:80/contribution-au-debat-a-la-maison-de-lecologie/ |archivedate=2018-01-02 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
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| 2003 || (summer) || Publication || [[wikipedia:Tyler Cowen|Tyler Cowen]]'s paper "Policing Nature" is published in ''Environmental Ethics''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cowen|first=Tyler|title=Policing Nature|journal=Environment Ethics|year=2003|volume=25|issue=2|pages=169–182|doi=10.5840/enviroethics200325231|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Cowen%20-%20Policing%20nature.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317182237/https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Cowen%20-%20Policing%20nature.pdf|archivedate=2018-03-17|deadurl=no}}</ref> Cowen gives arguments from utilitarian, rights-based, and holistic moral perspectives in support of policing nature. Ze He criticizes the argument that humans should refrain from interfering in nature because it is hard to predict the results of intervention. Cowen discusses predator population reduction as a possible intervention.
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| 2005 || {{dts|May}} || || Brian Tomasik first begins to think about animal welfare after reading essays by Peter Singer.<ref name="howistarted">{{cite web|first1=Brian|last1=Tomasik|website=Essays on Reducing Suffering|title=How I Started Writing about Wild-Animal Suffering|date= 10 August 2012|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/how-i-started-writing-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721225830/http://reducing-suffering.org/how-i-started-writing-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>
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| 2005 || {{dts|July}} || || Brian Tomasik reads Bernard E. Rollin's ''Animal Rights & Human Morality'', which introduces zir to the possibility of insect sentience.<ref name="howistarted" /> Ze He writes, "I was completely startled to realize this possibility and spent the next several minutes contemplating how much suffering the world would contain if this were true. The spider's webs in my basement began to take on a new, horrible significance."
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| 2005 || {{dts|October 17}} || || Brian Tomasik writes a letter to Peter Singer, asking zir whether ze he thinks insects are sentient and whether they experience a net-negative balance of suffering over happiness.<ref name="howistarted" />
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| 2005 || {{dts|June}} || || Brian Tomasik hears about and reads David Pearce's Hedonistic Imperative.<ref name="howistarted" /> Ze He writes, "This piece helped me see how bad suffering was and may have been one of the last straws helping me see that life in the wild was far below hedonic zero on average, especially when the pain of death was taken into account."
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| 2006 || {{dts|June}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik's collection of essays on utilitarianism is first posted to zirs website at utilitarian-essays.com.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222015250/http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/|title=Utilitarian Essays|date=2006-12-22|website=web.archive.org|access-date=2019-07-20}}</ref>
| 2006 || (summer) || Publication || Brian Tomasik writes "Calculations Regarding Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Calculations Regarding Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wild-animal-suffering-calculations.pdf |date=2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412175611/https://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wild-animal-suffering-calculations.pdf| archivedate=2015-04-12 |deadurl=no |website=A Collection of Essays on Utilitarianism}}</ref>
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| 2006 || {{dts|December}} || Community || [[wikipedia:Seth Baum|Seth Baum]] starts a utilitarian community blog Felicifia.com.<ref>{{cite web |title=Felificia Blog Post List |url=http://utilitarianism.wikia.com/wiki/Felificia_Blog_Post_List |website=Utilitarianism Wiki |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716035556/http://utilitarianism.wikia.com/wiki/Felificia_Blog_Post_List |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |language=en}}</ref> Ze He had previously had a personal blog under the same name. Wild-animal suffering would become a popular topic of discussion on the site and its successor forum Felicifia.org.<ref>{{cite web|title=Google search results for wild animal suffering on Felicifia|url=https://google.com/search?hl=en&q=wild+animal+suffering+site%3Afelicifia.org|website=google.com|archiveurl=https://archive.is/60u51|archivedate=17 March 2018|deadurl=no|language=en}}</ref>
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| 2006 || {{dts|April 29}} || Publication || Matthew Clarke and Yew-Kwang Ng publish an article analyzing a kangaroo cull from the perspective of welfare biology.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Clarke|first1=Matthew|last2=Ng|first2=Yew-Kwang|title=Population Dynamics and Animal Welfare: Issues Raised by the Culling of Kangaroos in Puckapunyal|journal=Social Choice and Welfare|date=29 April 2006|volume=27|issue=2|pages=407–422|doi=10.1007/s00355-006-0137-8|url=https://stafforini.com/docs/Clarke%20&%20Ng%20-%20Population%20dynamics%20and%20animal%20welfare.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317234706/https://stafforini.com/docs/Clarke%20&%20Ng%20-%20Population%20dynamics%20and%20animal%20welfare.pdf<!--http://www.webcitation.org/715RsjOdY, https://archive.fo/q2IxR-->|archivedate=2018-03-17|deadurl=no}}</ref>
| 2010 || {{dts|September 15}} || Project || The domain name animal-ethics.org is registered.<ref>https://whois.domaintools.com/animal-ethics.org</ref>
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| 2010 || {{dts|September 19}} || Publication || Jeff McMahan's piece "The Meat Eaters" is published in the New York Times.<ref>{{cite news|last=McMahan|first=Jeff|title=The Meat Eaters|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/the-meat-eaters/?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716053103/https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/the-meat-eaters/?_r=0<!--https://archive.is/39aR9-->|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=McMahan|first=Jeff|title=Predators: A Response|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/predators-a-response/?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716053311/https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/predators-a-response/?_r=0<!--https://archive.is/zOZBC-->|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref> Ze He argues in favor of intervention in nature, and specifically reducing predation.
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| 2010 || || Publication || Philosopher Oscar Horta's article "Debunking the idyllic view of natural processes" is published.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Horta|first=Oscar|title=Debunking the Idyllic View of Natural Processes: Population Dynamics and Suffering in the Wild|journal=Télos|year=2010|volume=17|issue=1|pages=73–88|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Horta%20-%20Debunking%20the%20idyllic%20view%20of%20natural%20processes.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716083940/https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Horta%20-%20Debunking%20the%20idyllic%20view%20of%20natural%20processes.pdf|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref>
| 2017 || {{dts|April 26}} || Project || Utility Farm announces its 2017 essay contest with a top prize of $1,500.<ref>{{cite web |title=Utility Farm has launched its 2017 essay contest |url=https://www.facebook.com/utilityfarm/posts/185977225255869 |website=Facebook |author1=Utility Farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716071130/https://m.facebook.com/utilityfarm/posts/185977225255869 |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |language=en |date=April 26, 2017}}</ref> The contest received no quality submissions, and the prize was not awarded.<ref>{{cite web |title=2017 essay contest |url=https://www.utility.farm/prize |website=utility farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716070800/https://www.utility.farm/prize |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no}}</ref>
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| 2017 || {{dts|April}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard of Open Philanthropy Project allocates $30K from the animal welfare EA Fund to the Effective Altruism Foundation's research of wild-animal suffering, stating that ze He is impressed with their work but is unsure how tractable it will be. Ze He also cites internal changes at EAF that left WAS research with no funding.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=April 2017: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds/animal-welfare/payouts/tI97LtH5AsIkgUa2IMCKi|website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=April 2017}}</ref>
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| 2017 || {{dts|May 3}} || Community || Evan Gaensbauer creates the Facebook group "Wild Animal Welfare Project Discussion" as part of a larger attempt to build networks for new EA causes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wild Animal Welfare Project Discussion |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/wildanimalwelfareprojectdiscussion/ |website=Facebook |accessdate=16 July 2018}}</ref>
| 2018 || {{dts|June 10}} || Presentation || EA Global 2018 takes place in San Francisco. Persis Eskander of WASR gives a talk about "Crucial Considerations in Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |title=Crucial Considerations in Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/249916 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl=https://archive.is/I7vSM |archivedate=2018-07-12 |date=June 9, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/ea-global-2018-crucial-considerations-was/|title=Crucial Considerations in Wild Animal Suffering|website=Effective Altruism|access-date=2019-07-20}}</ref> Ozy Brennan (WASR), Persis Eskander (WASR), Kieran Greig (ACE), and Abraham Rowe (Utility Farm) participate in a panel on "Strategic Movement Building for Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |title=Strategic Movement Building for Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/249944 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl= https://archive.is/yfXkV |archivedate=2018-06-10 |date=June 10, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Building support for wild animal suffering - EA Global|url=https://www.eaglobal.org/talks/building-support-for-wild-animal-suffering/|access-date=2019-07-20}}</ref> There is also a meetup for people interested in the topic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meetup: Wild Animal Suffering |url= https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/250302 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl= https://archive.is/YuJSZ |archivedate=2018-06-10 |date=June 10, 2018}}</ref>
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| 2018 || {{dts|June}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard allocates $70K to Animal Ethics, $40K to Utility Farm, and $30K to Wild-Animal Suffering Research via the EA Funds. Ze He notes that all three organizations have converged around the strategy of building an academic field of wild-animal suffering, but have different approaches.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=June 2018: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nTS2AEOLkuQEmEQ5ePa7opt9eoN_utvWvXPbFGJL90s|website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=June 2018|archiveurl=https://archive.is/6YMLA<!--http://www.webcitation.org/713qg9zKB-->|archivedate=2018-07-20|quote=Potential interventions to aid wild animals remain limited, and may be unwise, so I think it makes sense to build an academic field that can better research this problem and potential approaches to addressing it. The three primary groups in this space have all converged around the academic field-building strategy, though they have different approaches. Given the magnitude of the problem, my uncertainty over which approach is likely to be most effective, and my sense that all three groups are well-run, I’m proposing funding all three.|deadurl=no}}</ref>
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| 2018 || September 4 || Publication || Persis Eskander from Wild-Animal Suffering Research publishes "An Introduction to Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://was-research.org/paper/an-introduction-to-human-appropriation-of-net-primary-productivity/|title=An Introduction to Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity|last=Esk|first=Persis|last2=er|date=2018-09-04|website=Wild-Animal Suffering Research|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>
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