Animal Rights: The Social Justice Movement of the 21st Century

Abstract

Animals have always played a great role in our life but the literature on social justice, and social justice movements themselves, routinely ignore animals as legitimate subject of social justice. The reason is very clear that the place of animals in human morality was absent and often they consider them as the property and use it however they want. Prior there were no laws; Aristotle and Aquinas believed animals exist to serve human requirement and the ethical treatment of animals were appears to be optional. But after the rise of utilitarianism with the idea of pleasure and pain, including animal pain promotes the humane treatment of animals and the era of animal welfare movement started. Against this background, the author will highlight how the level of enlightenment within our society has increased in the last several years and will examine various philosophical theories pertaining to animal rights that have evolved over a period of time that made the emergence of animal right as a separate legal discipline.