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Ecological conscienceness, animal rights and justice

Authors: Chernyak A.Z. Published: 16.04.2018
Published in issue: #4(66)/2018  
DOI: 10.18698/2306-8477-2018-4-519  
Category: The Humanities in Technical University | Chapter: Philosophy Science  
Keywords: ecological conscienceness, animal rights, justice, equality, moral obligation

The struggle for animal rights is an important component of modern ecological conscienceness. It focuses on recognizing the same rights for animals that are considered fundamental for humans. Besides, contemporary animal rights activists not only demand respect for these rights and the recognition of independent values for animals, regardless of their benefits to people, but they also believe that, moving in this direction, humanity will rise to a new level of sense of values. The article expresses doubt on this issue on the basis of consideration of some consequences of the requirement of equal rights for animals and humans. It is shown that this requirement, being consistently implemented, will lead to a situation either the nature of animals or they remain outside the legal field, or they will be substituted by creatures of another type at all. All this is hardly compatible with the very idea of respect for animal rights.


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