Pets, People, and Pragmatism

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments  Iwould like to thank all the instructors in my life—especially philosophical , riding, and herding—who helped me gain experience and perspective. I would like to thank the philosophical community of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy for listening and responding to my work over the years. In particular I would like to thank Paul Thompson, Lisa Heldke, Lee McBride, Larry Cahoone, Judith Green, Scott L. Pratt, and David Vessey for valuable conversations and insight about my work on other animal beings. I would also like to thank Philip McReynolds, Kelly Booth, Steven Fesmire, Brian Henning, and Tadd Ruetenik for joining me on panels related to these issues at several meetings of the association. I learned much from these sessions. A special thanks goes again to Paul Thompson and Lisa Heldke for their careful reading of earlier drafts of this manuscript. While the three of us disagree on much surrounding these issues, the exchanges we had did much to improve the thinking I present here and reminded me again why I value such a philosophical community. For riding and horse related experience I would like to thank Arlene Benshoof, my first riding instructor, who made sure the first lesson was one of respect and love. I want to thank Dan and Julie Williams of Williams’ Training Stable for the gift of keeping Donald in my life and for introducing me to Hank. They have also shown me what transformations love and patience can bring to a horse’s life. For my continued riding education I thank Sandy Dossett and Marilynn Dammon who helped me make the transition to dressage, along with Jerry Schwartz and Max Gahwyler. I would like to thank Carole Gallert who arranged clinics and then gave me the privilege of instruction on her own horse, William. I would like thank the instructors who have pushed me and prepared { xi } xii acknowledgments me for competition: Charles DeKunffy, Kim VonHopffgarten, Jeremy Steinberg, Jeremy Beale, and Joanna Herrinstad. I would also like to thank the countless people who have helped me care for, transport, and show my horses over the years: Carla and Phil Collett, the Halls, Rebecca Larson, Polly Kranick, Michelle Hoedeman, Helen Greenwell, Tanja Oliver, and Diane Winters. And for the dogs I again thank Arlene Benshoof for first introducing me to Australian Shepherds. I thank the obedience class instructors, whose names I’ve forgotten—Tuffy and Pandora loved those classes. I thank Alice Kapelos and Linda DeJong for helping me learn to herd sheep with Nemesis, always keeping the welfare of the sheep in mind. I would like to thank Pacific Lutheran University for supporting my scholarship over the years. I specifically thank them for monetary support that enabled me to spend time at the Center for John Dewey Studies. I would also like to thank my Spring 2010 Writing 101 class on Pets and my Spring 2012 Pragmatism and American Philosophy class. Our discussions were enlightening. I would like to thank my department colleagues for their support. I thank Chris James (Senior Office Assistant in the Division of Humanities) for her help with the manuscript and Leann Evey (Senior Administrative Associate in the Office of the Provost) for her assistance and insight. I would also like to thank various colleagues in the Department of English for useful conversations about other animal beings over the years: James Albrecht, Charles Bergman, and Barbara Temple-Thurston in particular. I would like to thank The Pluralist for permission to reprint a modified version of some of what appeared in an article titled “We Are Hers” (Vol. 6, No. 3, Fall 2011). Similarly I would like to thank Routledge for permission for some material from my chapter, “Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Women, Animals and Oppression,” in Contemporary Feminist Pragmatism (Routledge, 2012). I would like to thank Nemesis, Tao, Maeve, and Kira—the dogs who had to live with me while I worked on this project. Their patience was admirable; their insistence on taking breaks to play invaluable. Of course I would like to thank the many horses, dogs, and cats who have shared so much with me over the years. pets, people, and pragmatism  ...