Lynda (@LMKorimboccus​ and korimboccus.com​) is an anthrozoologist, sociologist & philosopher who teaches sociology in Scottish Further Education. She is also a musician, songwriter, writer and artist. Lynda is Editor-in-Chief of the Student Journal of Vegan Sociology. Lynda’s recent paper, “The Peppa Pig Paradox”, was published in the Journal for Critical Animal Studies.

In these Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”

Sentientism is “evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.”

The audio is also on our Podcast – subscribe here on Apple​ & all the other platforms here.

We discuss:

• Being an activist academic
• The “Peppa Pig Paradox” and cognitive dissonance
• Critical Animal Studies and Vegan Sociology
• Multi-disciplinary perspectives spanning psychology, sociology, anthrozoology and philosophy
• “There’s no such thing as an amateur philosopher”
• Being a child philosopher
• Growing up Methodist Christian with an ex-Muslim father who converted to Christianity, then later went back to Islam
• Drifting away from the church
• Being a “weak atheist” or agnostic
• Bible stories were only ever stories. Never believing they were true
• Reasons why people leave religions
• “I don’t like labels”. Having the freedom to choose what makes sense
• Compassion as a common theme running through, and pre-dating religions
• Religious sectarianism and violence in Scotland
• If we strip religious ethics back to universal compassion we don’t need the supernatural beliefs as justifications
• Compassion, kindness, social justice and veganism as the central elements of Lynda’s ethics
• Taking decisions to minimise harm
• The danger of socially constructed categories re: gender, race, species. Pets vs. farmed animals
• The risks of a human-centred perspective, even in our understanding of and use of sentience
• Animal mobility “if it can run away from you” as a criteria for sentience and moral consideration
• Not making the connection between loving the cows in the field and eating meat
• How some people support the RSPCA but still have animals on their plates
• Reading a leaflet then a pack of animal literature & going vegan in a fortnight
• Becoming an “angry activist” & being outcast from
• “All I have to do is tell other people & they’ll change… then they didn’t”
• Studying psychology, then sociology to try & understand
• Social norms that exploit & and oppress make some people lots of money
• Is there one right way? It feels obvious
• Humanism & the distinctive capabilities of humans
• The rights of land? Does nature have “interests”?
• Interconnectedness & the ubiquity of information processing make sense within a naturalistic worldview
• If you’re being compassionate because god told you to, does that devalue the compassion?
• Gary Francione’s “The Abolitionist Approach”
• The nature fallacy
• Nature & evolution don’t care about suffering
• “If you don’t have to cause harm, don’t do it!”
• The moral choice between eating a carrot or a rabbit
• Are the most important philosophical questions the simplest (don’t needlessly cause suffering/death)?
• A more utopian vegan future is possible right now
• The modern vegan movement is new but has ancient roots
• Lower suffering options are so widely available
• We need a deconstruction of thinking and systems. From “meat & dairy” to “protein & calcium”. Not making vegans feel excluded
• As capitalist companies start to see a profit opportunity here, things will change
• “People are taught to be more selfish than they would naturally be”
• People should go to sanctuaries & meet the individuals
• Links between animal products, environmental destruction, human/workers rights
• “If I was proper magical, mum, I would make everybody vegan”
• Raising the next generation to be more thoughtful
• The view that we can’t tell kids about animal farming because it will upset them. “Maybe we need to”
• Kids love animals – more than half of kids programmes have animal lead characters
• We need top down systemic change and bottom up personal change
• Ending animal farming is a “no brainer”, a win-win-win
• “The progress we’ve made as a species just in the last century is phenomenal”
• “I do have hope – it might even end up being in my lifetime”.

Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at sentientism.info​. Join Lynda on our “wall” using this simple form.

​Everyone interested, Sentientist or not, is welcome to join our groups. Our main one is here on FaceBook.

Thanks Graham for the post-production: Follow him @cgbessellieu.