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Paola Cavalieri

Paola Cavalieri is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paola Cavalieri rather than just read about it. In short: Paola Cavalieri (born 26 October 1950) is an Italian philosopher, most known for her work arguing for extension of human rights to the other great apes and more broadly, "to mammals and birds, and probably vertebrates in general". In addition to her books, she was the editor of Etica & Animali, a quarterly international philosophy journal that published nine volumes from 1988 to 1998.

Paola Cavalieri — main illustration
Paola Cavalieri — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Paola Cavalieri belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Paola Cavalieri to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Paola Cavalieri from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paola Cavalieri (born 26 October 1950) is an Italian philosopher, most known for her work arguing for extension of human rights to the other great apes and more broadly, "to mammals and birds, and probably vertebrates in general". In addition to her books, she was the editor of Etica & Animali, a quarterly international philosophy journal that published nine volumes from 1988 to 1998.

See also List of animal rights advocates

Books The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity (Co-edited with Peter Singer. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0-312-10473-3. Paperback edition published by St. Martin's Griffin, 1994. ISBN 978-0-312-11818-1.) Widely cited in the academic literature. The Animal Question: Why Nonhuman Animals Deserve Human Rights (Originally published in Italian as La Questione Animale in 1999. Translated by Catherine Woollard. Revised by Paola Cavalieri. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-19-514380-5. New edition published in 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-517365-9.)

Press and scholarly coverage Reviews of The Great Ape Project: Jonathan Marks, Human Biology, December 1994. "A Trans-Specific Agenda", Russell H. Tuttle (1994), Science 264(5158): 602–603. doi:10.1126/science.264.5158.602-a "Keeping it in the family," Robert Wokler, Times Literary Supplement, 17 September 1993, reprinted in James Koobatian, The Thinking Reader, Wadsworth 2002. "Isn't It Time to Give Chimps Their Due?" Letter by Calavieri to New York Times, printed 10 February 1997; "Don't Slight Disabled for Animal Rights' Sake," rejoinder by two Yale faculty members, printed 16 February 1997. The same two faculty members repeated their criticism in Groce, Nora Ellen; Marks, Jonathan (2000), "The Great Ape Project and disability rights : Ominous undercurrents of eugenics in action", American Anthropologist, 102 (4): 818–822, doi:10.1525/aa.2000.102.4.818. "Rattling the cage", Salon, 4 February 2000. This review of a book by Steven Wise on animal rights briefly mentions The Great Ape Project as a precursor. "Animal Liberation at 30", Peter Singer, New York Review of Books, May 15, 2003. An extensive review of four books, one of which is Cavalieri's The Animal Question: Why Non-human Animals Deserve Human Rights. "Maintenir l'homme à part sans soumettre son statut au diktat des savoirs," Le Monde, 27 June 2003. Includes a mention of Cavalieri's work. In French. Review of The Animal Question by Marco Calarco (2004), International Studies in Philosophy 36(4): 109–110, calling Cavalieri "one of the premier international animal rights theorists writing today". "Great apes deserve life, liberty and the prohibition of torture", Peter Singer, The Guardian, 27 May 2006. This story by the other Great Ape Project founder describes the project in some detail as background to its pro-animal-rights message. Reprinted in the Taipei Times [1], China Daily, and Daily Times [2]. "Spain to regard apes as ‘legal persons’." Article from The Guardian, 9 June 2006, regarding a Spanish resolution "based on the work of the Great Ape Project, which was founded in 1993 by philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri", with several paragraphs on their work. Reprinted in the Taipei Times. The Encyclopædia Britannica article on apes cites The Great Ape Project as additional reading. [3]

References

Illustrations

Paola Cavalieri illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paola Cavalieri

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paola Cavalieri claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paola Cavalieri before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paola Cavalieri ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paola Cavalieri

In research
Paola Cavalieri appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Paola Cavalieri in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Paola Cavalieri is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 births, 20th-century Italian philosophers, 21st-century Italian philosophers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Paola Cavalieri outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Paola Cavalieri in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Paola Cavalieri means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Paola Cavalieri out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paola Cavalieri in simple terms?

Paola Cavalieri (born 26 October 1950) is an Italian philosopher, most known for her work arguing for extension of human rights to the other great apes and more broadly, "to mammals and birds, and probably vertebrates in general". In addition to her books, she was the editor of Etica & Animali, a q…

Why does Paola Cavalieri matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paola Cavalieri?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paola Cavalieri.

Tags

  • 1950 births
  • 20th-century Italian philosophers
  • 21st-century Italian philosophers
  • Animal cognition writers
  • Animal rights scholars
  • Living people

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