Animal Ethics and Entangled Empathy - A Spotlight on Lori Gruen, PhD

My weekly Purposeful Empathy newsletter is dedicated to amplifying the voices of people from around the globe who believe the world needs more empathy - and are doing something about it. In September, I’m highlighting the work of two incredible empathy scholars and two inspiring men who understand the power of empathy to change lives, workplaces, and the world.

Over the past four years, I’ve interviewed nearly 200 guests on my podcast to discuss the power of empathy - between humans. This week’s episode took me in a new direction.

Lori Gruen, PhD is a philosopher, ecofeminist, and leading voice in critical animal studies at Wesleyan University. Her groundbreaking work invites us to reconsider our relationships with the “more-than-human” world and advocates for a radical transformation in how we interact with animals.

In her book, Entangled Empathy: An Alternative Ethic for Our Relationships with Animals, she argues that “rather than focusing on animal rights, we ought to work to make our relationships with animals right by empathetically responding to their needs, interests, desires, vulnerabilities, hopes, and unique perspectives.”?

For example, one of her most impactful projects is The Last 1000 Chimps, a website that tracks and honors the remaining chimpanzees in the US who have been used by laboratories for testing.?

The website reads: “The end of using chimpanzees as nameless test subjects is near. Already hundreds of research chimpanzees have been retired. In tribute to all who have been forced to serve, here we look forward to the journey to sanctuary of the LAST 1000.”?

Lori has also dedicated more than 15 years to teaching entangled empathy to incarcerated individuals.?

In a recent podcast conversation with her, she described the initial reservations she had about bringing animal work into prisons because inmates often say, “They treat us like animals here."

Gratefully, entangled empathy resonates deeply with those behind bars. She says: “Teaching about empathy… helps them to start thinking about both themselves and each other… and the wider community outside of prison in very different ways.”

Lori’s work encourages us to expand our circle of moral consideration and to recognize the deep connections we share with all living creatures. What a departure from today’s divisive, competitive, hierarchical, and often violent, social and geopolitical context!

Want to learn more about empathy? Order my debut book, Purposeful Empathy: Tapping Our Hidden Superpower for Personal, Organizational, and Social Change.

Watch my Purposeful Empathy interview with Lori Gruen on YouTube here or listen to it as a podcast on your favourite platform (Spotify or Apple Podcasts).