| Popis: |
There seem to be some good reasons to reconsider the position of animals in open societies. Whereas non-human animals used to be regarded as objects without consciousness and feeling, modern science points out that many animals are sentient and that, like humans, they have certain elementary interests. Since interests play a crucial role in the political and legal theories that form the foundation of liberal democracies, it seems only natural that the revised perception of animals has consequences for the liberal democratic institutional framework too. The Introduction (this chapter) of The Open Society and Its Animals sketches the background of this and illustrates why it is necessary to reconsider the political and legal position of animals in liberal democracies. |
