Isla del Coco and the Challenge of Animal Agency
6 PM
October 4, 2023

Helen DeVitt Jones Auditorium

Museum of Texas Tech University

3301 4th Street

Lubbock, Texas 79415

Reception immediately following in the Helen DeVitt Jones Sculpture Court

Free event 

Open to the public

Free parking

 

In the special talk, Dr. Mario Solís will explore La Isla del Coco's natural marvels through the lens of animal agency, which refers to the capacity of non-human animals to take action and influence their environment in meaningful ways. He points out that the conservation narrative has historically revolved around human perspectives and needs, neglecting errors inherent to this anthropocentric view. This concept suggests that animals are active participants in shaping their surroundings, often displaying behaviors that have significant impacts on ecosystems and other organisms.

Dr. Mario Solís is Philosophy professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Philosophy at the University of Costa Rica (UCR) where he currently teaches moral and political philosophy. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Essex, UK. He has served as a visiting researcher at the Uppsala University, Sweden, and a Visiting Research Associate at UCL, London, UK. His interests include global justice, human rights, and moral and political philosophy. He has published serveral articles on issues of justice, equality and development ethics (including the entry on Latin America in the Routledge Handbook of Development Ethics, 2019). Solís is the author of Justicia Situacional: Racionalidad, Normatividad y Teoría Crítica Latinoamericanista, 2016 [Situational Justice: Rationality, Normativity and Latin American Critical Theory], which advances what he calls a “situationist approach to justice”, an approach to the normativity of justice “crafted” from situations to the rest: to context, to community, to principles, to normativity as such. He is a member of the International Development Ethics Association (IDEA) and currently serves as member of its executive board. He is also part of the Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas, UCR (the Research Committee), as well as the Asociación Latinoamerican de Filosofía Analítica (ALFAn) and the UK-Latin America Network for Political Philosophy (UKLANPP).

 

 

More about Dr. Solís:
​* Paul Tubbs. “Texas Tech to Host Visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence.” Texas Tech Today, August 8, 2023.

This public talk by Dr. Solís is offered in conjunction with TTU International Affairs' International Week and the special exhibit “Journey through Cocos Island” at the Museum of Texas Tech University from September to December 2023.

For questions about this event, please contact:

Laura Ray

Communications and Marketing

Museum of Texas Tech University

laura.ray@ttu.edu