Animals As Objects, or Subjects, of Rights

Abstract

This chapter shows that the historical accounts of animals did not rest on any fundamental misconception as to their capacities, but on the simple but powerful proposition that the survival and advancement of human civilization depended on the domestication and use of animals. It explores the moral status of animals, and their relationship to women, children, and slaves, under the traditional synthesis of legal rights. The chapter highlights the benefits to animals that arise from the system of human ownership. It relates this history to the modern debates over the legal status of animals, and rejects the proposition that the creation of rights for animals is a logical extension of the creation of full rights for women and slaves. The chapter discusses efforts to create animal rights based on their cognitive or sentient capacity, and concludes that these help justify many past initiatives for the protection of animals, but not the more aggressive claims for animal rights.