Ethical and legal aspects of animal protection 3700-WYK9-AZ

The lectures will begin with the history of ethical (philosophical) views on human obligations towards animals. This history will lead to the emergence of two still relevant ethical theories, namely (1) deontology and (2) utilitarianism. (1) Starting from historical concepts of natural laws and today’s doctrine of human rights, the course will present the intellectual origins of the present concept of (moral) animal rights authored by Tom Regan. The premises of Regan’s theory will be analysed together with their consequences and the applicability of the concept of inherent rights to the diversity of non-human beings. (2) Next, we will go back to the advent of utilitarianism in the 18th century, moving on to Peter Singer’s ethics of equal consideration of interests and the views of other utilitarianists. This will inevitably lead to the axiological foundations of ethics, especially assessing the value of an individual being’s life. Concluding this segment, the course will present the prospects for a synthesis of deontology and utilitarianism, and also (briefly) the attitude of various universalizing ethics towards “environmental ethics” (60 hours will be devoted to “environmental philosophy” itself in the fourth semester).
In the second part, after a brief historical introduction (animal trials), the course will show the possibilities of giving animal subjects legal personality based on current knowledge justifying the attribution of individual interests to them. Against this background, we will present the current legal status of animals usually treated as objects (things) and the few attempts at their de-reification. In particular, the course will present needs and possibilities to introduce rights for animal subjects into fundamental laws (constitutions), with a review of constitutional provisions already introduced in a few Western countries.
1. Basic concepts from ethics and moral philosophy. The relation of ethics to law.
2. Ethical (philosophical) views on human obligations towards animals in antiquity and the Middle Ages.
3. The concept of natural laws and the human rights doctrine as the source of the concept of (moral) animal rights.
4. Tom Regan’s animal rights theory, its premises and consequences, and the applicability of the concept of inherent rights to the diversity of non-human beings.
5. Criticism and present state of the animal rights doctrine.
6. Definition of utilitarianism, its beginnings and main trends.
7. Peter Singer’s ethics of equal consideration of interests and the views of other contemporary utilitarianists.
8. Axiological foundations of utilitarianism, especially assessing the value of an individual being’s life.
9. The need and prospects for a synthesis of deontology and utilitarianism, and also (briefly),
10. the attitude of various universalizing ethics to environmental ethics and Christian ethics.

Part two
11. The legal status of animals in the past (animal trials).
12. The current legal status of animals (international comparisons).
13. The theory of legal personality and the possibility of granting it to animal subjects based on current knowledge justifying the attribution of individual interests to them.
14. Needs and possibilities to introduce animal subjects’ rights into fundamental laws (constitutions).
15. The prospects for granting animal subjects the status of citizens (based on Donaldson & Kymlicka 2011 – Zoopolis)