Francis WOLFF - Legal and Moral Consequences of the Inexistence of the Animal

Pouvoirs n°131 - Les animaux - novembre 2009 - p.135-147

Current French law does not grant animals any legal status, but esta- blishes a distinction between different regimes according to the type of relations between animals and men. Under the influence of Anglo-Saxon philosophical doctrines, certain movements for the defence of animals are attempting to push for the recognition of “animal rights” and to introduce a new legal status for the animal as a “sensible being” in our Civil Law. We attempt here to show the conceptual inconsistency of such an innovation and the risks it represents for a humanist ethic. Instead of granting animals a unique moral status, which is simply an ideological fiction, it is important to distinguish between the duties we have toward pets, domestic animals and wild animals. In conclusion, we present the philosophical foundations of these differentiated moral obligations. Résumé

Référence électonique : Francis WOLFF, "Legal and Moral Consequences of the Inexistence of the Animal", Pouvoirs, revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques, n°131, 2009, p.135-147. Consulté le 02-06-2012. URL : http://www.revue-pouvoirs.fr/Legal-and-Moral-Consequences-of.html