Legal and ethical status of animals

general courses

Classroom

The course shall allow students to gain extensive knowledge on the history and contemporary ideas of interspecies justice, as well as understanding of the fundamental ethical issues regarding human-non-human relations. Moreover, it shall introduce students to the legal status of animals, particularly from the perspective of the Polish legal system.

Said knowledge and insight shall allow students to understand universal moral principles on which the social order is (or ought to be) based and the role of axiology in organizing politics and lawmaking.

Thus, the course develops the ability to identify ethical and legal problems, teaches theories of interspecies justice and legal doctrines, as well as develops the ability to formulate conscious and independent analysis of complex problems regarding the relationship between humans and non-humans

The course is interdisciplinary. In the first part of the course, students are introduced to the subject matter and familiarized with the basic terminology and history of the interspecies justice. Then, from the perspective of political and legal doctrines and ethics, the leading theories on the relationship between humans and animals are presented, divided into three categories: animal welfare, animal rights and contractualism (a political perspective). Selected positions are presented based on the analysis of primary sources, a short selection of which is sent to students before each class.

Subsequent meetings are devoted to the theory of legal dogmatic sciences: in a synthetic way, they discuss the legal status of domestic animals, farm animals and animals used in science and for special purposes, and wild (free living) animals, with particular emphasis on Polish regulations. Comparative reasoning, though, shall present different approaches to the juridization of the status of animals in the various legal systems (in particular, their reification and personhood). It may also reveal the impact of political and ethical thinking on legal norms. Selected issues will be presented through interpretation of legal acts and readings of judgements, a short selection of which shall be sent to students before each class.

The final part of the course takes up the practical issues. It also entails discussion of presented problems and involves students using the knowledge gained so far. The following classes discuss the problems of industrial breeding, hunting, caring for animals at home, the use of animals in science, and the relationship between ecology and conservation and animal welfare. The lecturer presents problems related to each of these issues, recalling real examples, often focusing the attention on the cases dear to the public, not only philosophers or lawyers. Students are encouraged to speak and refer to selected examples from the perspective of the theories they have learned and with awareness of the existing legal framework. The issues are presented on the basis of popular science and press publications as well as judgments, a short selection of which is sent to students before each class.

The last class shall summ up the course and embed the issue of the status of animals in the bigger picture of post-humanist world.

Proposed plan of the course:

1) Introduction: ethical and legal attitude toward animals and their status

2) Relationships between humans and non-humans in history

3) The idea of animal welfare

4) The idea of animal rights

5) Contractian/political idea

6) The legal status of pets

7) The legal status of farm animals

8) The legal status of wild animals

9) Animals and environmental protection

10) Case study: killing animals for food

11) Case study: hunting and blood sports

12) Case study: caring for pets at home

13) Case study: animals in national parks and zoos

14) Case study: animal experiments

15) Summary: Humanitarianism or animal rights? Animal status in post-humanist world

Mandatory legal acts:

Ustawa z dnia 13 października 1995 r. Prawo łowieckie (Dz.U. z 2020 r. poz. 1683 t.j.).

Ustawa z dnia 21 sierpnia 1997 r. o ochronie zwierząt (Dz.U. z 2020 r. poz. 638 t.j.).

Ustawa z dnia 15 stycznia 2015 r. o ochronie zwierząt wykorzystywanych do celów naukowych lub edukacyjnych (Dz.U. z 2019 r. poz. 1392 t.j.).

Ustawa z dnia 10 grudnia 2020 r. o organizacji hodowli i rozrodzie zwierząt gospodarkskich (Dz.U. z 2021 r. poz. 36).

Additional literature:

Arystoteles, Etyka nikomachejska, tłum. D. Gromska, Warszawa 1981.

J. Bentham, Wprowadzenie do zasad moralności i prawodawstwa, tłum. B. Nawroczyński, Warszawa 1958.

C. Cohen, T. Regan, The Animal Rights Debate, Oxford 2001

K. Darwin, O pochodzeniu człowieka, tłum. S. Panka, Warszawa 1959.

R. Descartes, Rozprawa o metodzie, tłum. T. Boy-Żeleński, wolnelektury.pl/media/book/pdf/rozprawa-o-metodzie.pdf.

A. Elżanowski, T. Pietrzykowski, Zwierzęta jako nieosobowe podmioty prawa, w: B. Błońska, W. Gogłoza, W. Klaus, D. Woźniakowska-Fajst (red.), Sprawiedliwość dla zwierząt, Warszawa 2017.

M. Goettel, Sytuacja zwierzęcia w prawie cywilnym, Warszawa 2013.

I. Kant, Metafizyka moralności, tłum. E. Nowak, M.J. Siemek, Warszawa 2005.

J. Lejman, Ewolucja ludzkiej samowiedzy gatunkowej. Dzieje prób zdefiniowania relacji człowiek-zwierzę, Lublin 2008.

T. Nowicki, Zwierzę jako podmiot moralności, w: D. Słowikowska (red.), Emancypacja zwierząt?, Lublin 2015.

C. Patterson, Wieczna Treblinka, tłum. R. Rupowski, Opole 2003.

W. Radecki, Ustawy o ochronie zwierząt. Komentarz, Warszawa 2015.

M. Rawlands, Can Animals Be Moral?, New York 2012.

B.E. Rollin, The Unheeded Cry. Animal Consciousness, Animal Pain, and Science, Ames 1998.

M. Rudy, Dlaczego potrzebujemy nowej ustawy o humanitarnej ochronie zwierząt?, Przegląd Prawa i Administracji, t. 108 2017.

H. Salt, Animals’ Rights, London 1894.

Tomasz z Akwinu, Suma Teologiczna, t. 18, Sprawiedliwość, tłum. F.W. Bednarski, Londyn 1970.

J. Urbański, Społeczeństwo bez mięsa, Poznań 2016.

F. de Waal, Instynkt społeczny naczelnych, moralność ludzka oraz narodziny i upadek „teorii fasady”, w: F. de Waal, Małpy i filozofowie, tłum. B. Brożek, M. Furman, Kraków 2019.

U. Zarosa, Status moralny zwierząt, Warszawa 2016.

Judgments and supplementary legal acts (excerpts) will be distributed among students depending on the selection of (possibly current and high-profile) cases illustrating the topics discussed.

The course shall allow students to gain extensive knowledge on the history and contemporary ideas of interspecies justice, as well as understanding of the fundamental ethical issues regarding human-non-human relations. Moreover, it shall introduce students to the legal status of animals, particularly from the perspective of the Polish legal system.

Said knowledge and insight shall allow students to understand universal moral principles on which the social order is (or ought to be) based and the role of axiology in organizing politics and lawmaking.

Thus, the course develops the ability to identify ethical and legal problems, teaches theories of interspecies justice and legal doctrines, as well as develops the ability to formulate conscious and independent analysis of complex problems regarding the relationship between humans and non-humans.

Graded credit.

Written exam in the form of a short single-choice test. Questions relating directly to the matter appearing in the classroom. 10 questions, 3 answers to choose from (scores: 40% - 3, 50% - 3+, 60% - 4, 70% - 4+, 80% - 5, 90% - 5+).

Possibility to write an essay under the guidance of the lecturer on a topic selected by a student instead of writing the exam. Successful essay's grade is the final grade.