About

Gary L. Comstock is an Alumni Association Distinguished Undergraduate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at NC State University. He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1954 and has a background in religious studies and philosophy, holding a Ph.D. in Religion and Literature from the University of Chicago. Comstock has a long-standing academic career, having served as an Assistant, Associate, and Professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University from 1982 to 2002 before his appointment at NC State in 2002. His research focuses on ethics, animal ethics, philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and critical thinking. Comstock has contributed to the academic community through various publications and has been involved in numerous research projects and grants, notably in research ethics education and the ethical dimensions of human enhancement. He has received several honors and awards, including the Alumni Association Outstanding Undergraduate Professor and the LAS Award for Excellence in Outreach. Comstock's work emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to ethical issues, particularly in relation to animals, cognition, and scientific research.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Political Science
• Computer Science
• Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Mathematics education
• Pedagogy
• Engineering ethics
• Epistemology
• Chemistry
• Management
• Social psychology
• Neuroscience
• Cognitive science
• Fishery
• Biology

Selected publications

• Assessing critical thinking about argumentative essays: the Critical Reasoning and Inference Test (CRIT)

  Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · 2026-04-16

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Connecting Ethical Reasoning to Global Challenges through Analysis of Argumentation

  Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education · 2023 · 5 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Political Science
  • Engineering ethics

  Scientific literacy is built on critical thinking. The postbaccalaureate workforce enhances our economies and societies by contributing a wealth of knowledge and skill sets to local communities, respective industries, and beyond as our world becomes increasingly interconnected. Education in scientific literacy should teach students how to learn about science and how to cultivate and communicate a positive attitude about science. Learners in a 200-level nonmajors biotechnology course engaged with a series of ethical dilemmas after mastering the basic elements of argument structure and advanced tools in argument evaluation. To introduce collaboration as a constructive process in undergraduate education, student interactions with peers require guidance, flexibility, and compassion to learn from each other. Students gain critical thinking mastery from two modules addressing how we argue and evaluate claims. Students apply these critical thinking skills to various ethical arguments involving responsible conduct of research training. Using our structured and interdisciplinary approach, new scholars learn through practice how to read, analyze, and evaluate research scenarios and respond to potential ethical situations. This strategy allows students to develop important scholarly skills, including a systematic approach to evaluating credibility and applying generosity to theirs and others' understanding of their circumstances.

  PublisherDOI

• Pain in Pleocyemata, but not in Dendrobranchiata?

  Animal Sentience · 2022 · 31 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Fishery
  • Medicine
  • Psychology

  Crump et al.’s contribution to assessing whether decapods feel pain raises an important question: Is pain distributed unevenly across the order? The case for pain appears stronger in Pleocyemata than in Dendrobranchiata. Some studies report pain avoidance behaviors in Dendrobranchiata (Penaeidae) shrimp, but further studies are needed to determine whether the chemicals used are acting as analgesics to relieve pain, or as soporifics to reduce overall alertness. If the latter, the most farmed shrimp species may not require the same level of protection as crabs, crayfish, and lobsters.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Philosophers' Brief in Support of Happy's Appeal

  PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) · 2021-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  We submit this brief in support of the Nonhuman Rights Project’s efforts to secure habeas corpus relief for the elephant named Happy. The Supreme Court, Bronx County, declined to grant habeas corpus relief and order Happy’s transfer to an elephant sanctuary, relying, in part, on previous decisions that denied habeas relief for the NhRP’s chimpanzee clients, Kiko and Tommy. Those decisions use incompatible conceptions of ‘person’ which, when properly understood, are either philosophically inadequate or, in fact, compatible with Happy’s personhood.

  Publisher

• Bovine Prospection, the Mesocorticolimbic Pathways, and Neuroethics: Is a Cow’s Future Like Ours?

  Advances in neuroethics · 2020 · 3 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive science
  PublisherDOI

• The Philosophers’ Brief on Elephant Personhood

  2020-01-01 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• 7. Ethics and Genetically Modified Food

  2019-12-31 · 11 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• What do we need to know to know that animals are conscious of what they know?

  Animal Behavior and Cognition · 2019-11-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  In this paper I argue for the following six claims: 1) The problem is that some think metacognition and consciousness are dissociable. 2) The solution is not to revive associationist explanations; 3) …nor is the solution to identify metacognition with Carruthers' gatekeeping mechanism. 4) The solution is to define conscious metacognition; 5) … devise an empirical test for it in humans; and 6) … apply it to animals.

  PublisherDOI

• The capacities conception

  2018-08-30

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• The Cattle in the Long Cedar Springs Draw

  2018-01-01

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Nathan Nobis

  Morehouse College

  11 shared

• Jeff Sebo

  New York University

  11 shared

• David M. Peña‐Guzmán

  San Francisco State University

  11 shared

• Tyler M. John

  Rutgers Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

  11 shared

• Will Kymlicka

  10 shared

• Letitia Meynell

  10 shared

• Kristin Andrews

  York University

  8 shared

• Sue Donaldson

  8 shared

Education

• A.M., Ph.D.

  U. of Chicago

  1983

Awards & honors

• LAS Award for Excellence in Outreach, College of Liberal Art…
• ASC Fellow, National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Pa…
• Member, NC State Academy of Outstanding Teacher, 2015
• Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award, 2015
• External Online Ethics Prize, Honorable Mention, PEA Soup, 2…