William S. Lynn

Current Research Interests

Bill specializes in animal and sustainability ethics, exploring why and how we ought to care for people, animals and nature.

Graduating from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities with a bachelors in political science and a doctorate in geography, Bill is a research scientist in the Marsh Institute at Clark University, a research fellow at the social science think-tank Knology, and teaches graduate courses in the Anthrozoology program at Canisius College. He is also the founder of PAN Works, an independent non-partisan think-tank dedicated to the wellbeing of animals.

Animals are more than resources or functional units of ecosystem services. They are frequently self-conscious and social beings who have an intrinsic moral value akin to our own. They deserve our ethical consideration and as human beings we owe them direct duties of care. This includes both wild and domesticated animals whether they are individuals or members of ecological and social communities.

Similarly, sustainability is not properly focused on preserving a global elite’s lifestyle or ensuring humanity’s mere survival. Rather it is helping people, animals and nature to thrive across the planet into perpetuity – deep sustainability. At the more technical level, this means that sustainability must be both scientifically and ethically sound. Its facts and values need to be transparent and accountable to society, while its goals must serve the good of the entire community of life. At a more political level, it means that sustainability must embrace social justice, animal protection, and ecological integrity if it is to truly respect the community of life in all it’s cultural and natural diversity.

Drawing on the interpretive tradition of ethics exemplified by Mary Midgley, Bill seeks to unearth the moral presuppositions and world views that are often latent in social and environmental issues. This involves helping us recognize and dialogue about our ethical points of view. Whether facilitating a class or public meeting, this is not a search for absolute truth or deciding who is ‘right.’ Rather, his engagement with students, the public and decision-makers seeks to help individuals and communities generate moral insights to help solve real-world problems. This ‘ethical capacity building’ attends to concrete cases, integrates theory with practice, and infuses public policy with ethical insights.

Selected Publications

Lynn, W. S., Baker, L., Santiago-Ávila, F. J., & Stewart, K. L. (2022). Ethics, Wellbeing and Wild Lives. In A. H. Fine, M. Mueller, Z. Ng, J. M. Peralta, & A. Beck (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook on Human-Animal Interactions, Interventions and Anthrozoology. Routledge.

Lynn, W. S., Santiago-Avila, F. J., & Stewart, K. L. (2022). Introduction: Outdoor Cats. Society & Animals, 30(7), forthcoming.

Lynn, W. S., & Santiago-Avila, F. J. (2022). Outdoor Cats: Science, Ethics and Politics. Society & Animals, 30(7), forthcoming.

Lynn, W. S., Santiago-Avila, F. J., & Stewart, K. S.  (Eds.). (2022). Outdoor Cats; a special issue of Society & Animals (30(7)). Brill.

Crist, E., Kopnina, H., Cafaro, P., et al. (2021). Protecting half the planet and transforming human systems are complementary goals. Frontiers in Conservation Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2021.761292

Kopnina, H., Spannring, R., Mackenzie Hawke, S., et al. (2021). “Ecodemocracy in practice: exploration of debates on limits and possibilities of addressing environmental challenges within democratic systems.” Visions for Sustainability, 15, 9-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/5832

Lynn, W. S. (2020). Rewilding the Covenant of Life with Compassion: A Future for Global and Sustainability Ethics. In P. Burdon, K. Bosselmann, & K. Engel (Eds.), The Crisis in Global Ethics and the Future of Global Governance: Fulfilling the Promise of the Earth Charter Debate (pp. 225-245). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Lynn, W. S., Santiago-Ávila, F. J., Hadidian, J., Wallach, A., & Lindenmayer, J. (2020). Misunderstandings of Science and Ethics in the Moral Panic Over Cats. Conservation Biology, 34(4), 1038-1040. https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13527

Santiago-Ávila, F. J., & Lynn, W. S. (2020). Bridging compassion and justice in conservation ethics. Biological Conservation, 248, 108648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108648

Wallach, A. D., Batavia, C., Bekoff, M., et al. (2020). Recognizing animal personhood in compassionate conservation. Conservation Biology, 34(5), 1097-1106. https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13494

Lynn, W. S., Santiago-Ávila, F. J., Lindenmayer, J., Hadidian, J., Wallach, A., & King, B. J. (2019). A Moral Panic Over Cats. Conservation Biology, 33(4), 768-776. https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13346

Lynn, W. S. (2018). Bringing Ethics to Wild Lives: Shaping Public Policy for Barred and Northern Spotted Owl. Wildlife: A special issue of Society & Animals, 26(2), 217-238.

Lynn, W. S., & Strauss, E. (2017). Ecology. In D. Iossifova, C. Doll, & A. Gasparatos (Eds.), Defining the Urban: Interdisciplinary and Professional Perspectives (pp. 73-83). Routledge.

Lynn, W. S.  (2015). Rewilding: The Ethical Imperative – Geographical. http://geographical.co.uk/opinion/item/1390-the-ethical-imperative

Lynn, W. S. (2010). Discourse and Wolves: Science, Society and Ethics. Society & Animals, 18(1), 75-92.

Lynn, W. S. (2006). Between Science and Ethics: What Science and the Scientific Method Can and Cannot Contribute to Conservation and Sustainability. In D. Lavigne (Ed.), Gaining Ground: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability (pp. 191-205). University of Limerick.

Lynn, W. S. (2004). Situating the Earth Charter: An Introduction. Worldviews, 8(1), 1-15.

Lynn, W. S. (2004). The Quality of Ethics: Moral Causation in the Interdisciplinary Science of Geography. In R. Lee & D. M. Smith (Eds.), Geographies and Moralities: International Perspectives on Justice, Development and Place (pp. 231-244). Routledge.

Lynn, W. S. (2002). Canis Lupus Cosmopolis: Wolves in a Cosmopolitan Worldview. Worldviews, 6(3), 300-327.

Lynn, W. S. (1998). Animals, Ethics and Geography. In J. Wolch & J. Emel (Eds.), Animal Geographies: Place, Politics and Identity in the Nature-Culture Borderlands (pp. 280-298). Verso.

Lynn, W. S. (1998). Contested Moralities: Animals and Moral Value in the Dear/Symanski Debate. Ethics, Place and Environment, 1(2), 223-242.