The 2012 Claremont International Jain Conference

Bioethics: Religious and Spiritual Approaches

August 24-25, 2012

Claremont Lincoln University, Mudd Auditorium
1325 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA 91711

Video:

Gary L. Francione is Distinguished Professor of Law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law and spoke on "Jainism and Vivisection: The Problems of Moral Relativism, the Defense of Self/Others, and Consequential Analysis" on Friday, August 24th from 8:15-9:15 pm at Claremont School of Theology.

Jainism is an ancient tradition rooted in India, centered on nonviolence - called Ahimsa - in thought, speech, and action toward all life forms. In this talk, Professor Francione looks at the Jain doctrine of Ahimsa, which prohibits the intentional infliction of suffering and death on mobile, multisensed beings, and the justification for the use of animals in experiments by Jain laypersons.

In addition to his legal career and teaching, Professor Francione is a serious student of Jain philosophy and has written about Jainism and animal ethics. He has been a vegan for 30 years based on his acceptance of the Jain principle of Ahimsa.

Professor Francione's talk was part of a two-day Jain conference on Bioethics dealing with issues of procreation, birth, life, and death from various religious traditions and philosophical perspectives.