2015/07/09 by Sue Donaldson, Will Kymlicka · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Environmental Science · #Geographies of human-animal interactions #Environmental Philosophy and Ethics
paper · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199927142.013.33
openalex publication_date 2015/07/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Western political theorists have largely ignored the animal question, assuming that animals have no place in our theories of democracy, citizenship, membership, sovereignty, and the public good. Conversely, animal ethicists have largely ignored political theory, assuming that we can theorize the moral status and moral rights of animals without drawing on the categories and concepts of political theory. This chapter traces the history of this separation between animals and political theory, examines the resulting intellectual blind spots for animal ethics, and reviews recent attempts to bring the two together. Situating animal rights within political theory has the potential to identify new models of justice in human-animal relations, and to open up new areas of scholarship and research.