The Jurisprudential Basic Of "Animals Are Not Objects"

From the incident of ’Guizhentang’ extracting bear bile to the frequent incidents of pet abuse,there was a public outcry.The awakening of civilization consciousness makes human beings pay attention to the survival states of animals.The issue of ’the relationship between human beings and animals’ has continued since human beings appeared on earth.Human society has gradually become civilized,and the attitude towards animals is changing.In classical age,the status of animals was mainly influenced by religion,taboos and politics,thus some animals were placed in a very high position,been protected and even respected,while the other animals couldn’t be treated this way.Coming to the modern age,human started to show their sympathy and care to the animals and the idea ’Animals are not things’ was invented.This paper attempts to analyze this proposition from the perspective of jurisprudence.This article is composed of four parts.The first chapter is the classical form of the laws for animal protection.As to understand the state of animals in human society in classical age,this chapter will introduce the relationship between animals and human beings not only in marketplace life,but also in political,religious and cultural life.And then explore the reasons why a few animals could be welfare holders,been venerate and had a high status.In the end,this chapter will analyze the status of animals from the perspective of Chinese and western classical law,and draw the conclusion that animals are always treated as ’general object’ in human society.The second chapter will introduce the Animal Protection Theory that emerged after the awakening of animal protection consciousness since modern times.It started with theory of animal welfare to the theory of animal rights,which broke the anthropocentrism and admitted animal as a new kind of subject.In addition,this chapter will also introduce the legislative practice and some legal theories which attempt to distinguish animals from general objects.The third chapter will make a Comparative Study of Animal Protection Laws in countries with relatively complete animal protection legislation in the whole world,trying to compare and analyze legal system,legislative purpose,scope of application of animal protection laws,and hoping to provide some advice for China’s animal welfare legislation.Besides,it will introduce the current situation of animal protection legislation in China,analyze the existing problems and explore the possible path of animal protection legislation specifically for China.The last chapter will first explain why human beings must distinguish animals as ’animals’ themselves from other general objects from the moral dimension,and then connect morality and law to construct the basic legal principles that animal protection should follow,including general principles and some special principles for specific animals.