Human being as an animal

Abstract

Since the 1970s, the research in animal ethics has been developing actively in the West. There are several approaches in the domain, that stand out among the others. These are radical abolitionist views (G. Fransion); the legal approach attributing to animals some kind of innate rights, and, in certain cases, even the status of non-human personalities (T. Regan, W. Wolf, T. Petzikowski); utilitarian ethics of animals, based on the existence of their interests, equivalent to human, and their ability to suffer (P. Singer); feminist and Marxist approach, built on the categories of inequality and labor relations (D. Haraway). All these directions have one thing in common, that is the requirement to change the way we think about animals. Recently there has been a proliferation of interdisciplinary research on human-animal relations, or just animal studies. The research deal with social sciences, philosophy, history, literature, art, cultural studies, biology, technology, medicine and other disciplines. Animal studies play a crucial ethical role being an involved and critical discipline. The development of genetics, neurobiology, and biotechnology consistently reverses the established views on the boundaries separating Human being from other animals. Bio-art, that is a combination of science and art, also blurs inter-species boundaries. Due to these factors, Western academic circles consistently shift from anthropocentrism to post-humanism that is a new paradigm in the science.