About animals, or the search for a new ethic 3302-OZPNE-OG

Animals have an ambivalent meaning in culture. Humans are either fascinated or afraid of them. For years, people have been debating which animal species will survive in a world transformed by technology. They are hunted or bred by humans, turned into commodities and eaten, but also loved.
They are often used as symbols. Only rarely are they given the status of an object, mostly in literature. Often they are instrumentalised. Bruno Latour, a French sociologist, formulated a thesis in 2004 about the invalidity of the previous definition of nature. He believes that humans can only
survive as a species if they negotiate with nature.
Today's discourse on animal welfare is looking for ways to define the relationship between animals and humans in other ways than before. It´s about overcoming the separation of humans from animals, about new ethics. This topic is at the centre of our seminar. We will try to reflect on the question of what the boundary between animals and humans serves.