Animal protection law in Great Britain : in search of the existing moral orthodoxy
Omnipresent in Western society, the idea of progress is commonly advanced in relation to the development of animal protection law in Great Britain. Essentially, it is argued that the law now recognises that animals are worthy of moral consideration in their own right, that is, that they count or matter morally. From the concept of ~animal as object~ to that of ~animal as person~, indeed, the history of Western philosophical thinking bears witness to a progressive acknowledgement of animals (or, at least, of some animals) as full members of the moral community, along with all human beings. However, as political theorist Robert Garner argues in his book Animals, Politics and Morality, public policy is never simply a product of moral principles. Rather, influenced by pressure groups, it is the result of a process based on negotiation and compromise. That being the case, in the present thesis, I ask whether Great Britain has truly been the scene of moral progress through the development of animal protection law and to what extent one may speak of moral progress at all in relation to this area of law. Is animal protection law in Great Britain moving away from the traditional moral position that animals are exclusively
Letourneau, Lyne
Rights; Morality; Utilitarianism; Group egoism
Animal protection law in Great Britain : in search of the existing moral orthodoxy. Omnipresent in Western society, the idea of progress is commonly advanced in relation to the development of animal protection law in Great Britain. Essentially, it is argued that the law now recognises that animals are worthy of moral consideration in their own right, that is, that they count or matter morally. From the concept of ~animal as object~ to that of ~animal as person~, indeed, the history of Western philosophical thinking bears witness to a progressive acknowledgement of animals (or, at least, of some animals) as full members of the moral community, along with all human beings. However, as political theorist Robert Garner argues in his book Animals, Politics and Morality, public policy is never simply a product of moral principles. Rather, influenced by pressure groups, it is the result of a process based on negotiation and compromise. That being the case, in the present thesis, I ask whether Great Britain has truly been the scene of moral progress through the development of animal protection law and to what extent one may speak of moral progress at all in relation to this area of law. Is animal protection law in Great Britain moving away from the traditional moral position that animals are exclusively
animal protection law great_britain search exist moral orthodoxy western_society idea_progress commonly advance relation development animal protection law great_britain essentially argue law recognises animal worthy moral consideration right count matter morally concept animal object animal person indeed history western philosophical thinking bear_witness progressive acknowledgement animal least animal full member moral community along human_being however political theorist argue book animals politics morality public_policy never simply product moral_principle rather influenced pressure_group process base negotiation compromise case present ask_whether great_britain truly scene moral progress development animal protection law extent may speak moral progress relation area law animal protection law great_britain move_away traditional moral position animal exclusively