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Faculty Spotlight, Dr. Joel MacClellan

Dr. Joel MacClellan (Philosophy faculty 2014-present, Ph.D. University of Tennessee, 2012). Professor MacClellan teaches courses such as Environmental Ethics and the Philosophy of Science at Loyola. His recent research is in the ethics of conservation biology, and his recent talks include an argument that wild animals’ have limited privacy rights which can be violated through documentary filmmaking, zoo cameras, wildlife tracking, etc., and the view that an animal rights perspective is compatible with invasive species management. In a forthcoming publication, Ethical Diets and Animal Ethics — Beyond Extensionism (Springer), Dr. MacClellan defends axiological extensionalism, which takes a morally valuable trait already recognized in us and argues that we should recognize the value of that trait in other species who have been historically marginalized in ways analogous to racism and sexism. Dr. MacClellan is also an avid kayaker and cyclist in and around New Orleans and cultivates a mixed permaculture garden of perennial edible and ornamental plants.