Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Animal rights – Philosophy – Australia'

The purpose of this essay is to critically examine the current legal status of animals in the United States and offer possible alternatives to the current legal rights for animals. This essay examines the failures of the legal system in protecting animals that have abilities very similar to our own. With an examination of these types of animals, this essay will explain why some animals merit the status of legal personhood to protect them from being carelessly used by others. Ultimately, this essay is an attempt to open the field of legal protection for many animals starting with a few through legal personhood.

Growing up as a child, we had a Dog. To us, it was like a means to an end. That is, hunting other animals for food and for protection, with no special care and treatment given to this animal. Butas days passed by I began to witness a wind of change against such actions. I was made to understand that we were committing two crimes-: using the Dog as a means to an end (for hunting and for eating animals). Today almost every newspaper has something to say about the treatment of animals by humans, especially in their use as experimentation subjects. This has led to the wide spread arguments about “Animal right” and “Animal equality” Advocates of the above arguments hold that just like humans, animals too have rights and are in many ways like humans. There also exist animal right groups. Organisations and countries now have laws regulating animal used in the laboratory. If I may be permitted, I will want to say that the world is in a state of dilemma regarding animal experimentation. While some argue against it, based on the claim that these animals have no right and are not equal to humans, others argue in favour of it on claims that animals have moral rights, feel pain and suffer just like humans and should not be subjected to painful experiments. I then begin to wander how research on animals to improve human health should not be undertaken just because it is claimed that these animals have rights and are in many ways equal to humans. It is the contention of this paper to find out the extent to which animal rights and animal equality justifies the fight against animal experimentation.

Orientador: Ronaldo Rômulo Machado de Almeida
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
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Resumo: A partir de estudo etnográfico em congressos, manifestações públicas e encontros organizados ao redor do tema do vegetarianismo e da luta pelos direitos animais, a dissertação descreve a formação e a dinâmica de um movimento político em território brasileiro, expondo as principais discussões que mobilizam os ativistas na busca da emancipação dos animais na sociedade. Orientada pelo debate antropológico contemporâneo, voltado para observação das relações entre humanos e não-humanos, pode-se analisar uma discussão atual, na qual os atores não-humanos adquirem status de sujeito, o que mobiliza humanos na formação de um novo modo de fazer política e de se relacionar, em variadas esferas da vida social: a mudança de hábitos alimentares (disseminação da dieta vegetariana), o entretenimento (fim do uso de animais em circos, rodeios, touradas), bem como a revisão e a reflexão profundas sobre o modo de produção científica (fim dos testes em animais em pesquisas biomédicas e início de uma visão, dentro das ciências humanas, que encare seres não-humanos como atores sociais)
Abstract: Starting from an ethnographic study at conferences, public events and meetings organized around the theme of the vegetarianism and the struggle for animal rights, the manuscript describes the formation and dynamics of a political movement in Brazilian territory, exposing the main discussions that mobilize activists in pursuit of the emancipation of the animals in society. Guided by contemporary anthropological debate, aimed at observing the relationship between humans and nonhumans, can analyze a current discussion, in which nonhumans acquire status of subject, which mobilizes humans to the formation of a new way of doing politics and the relationship in various spheres of social life: changing eating habits (spread of vegetarian diet), entertainment (ending the use of animals in circuses, rodeos, bullfights), as well as review and reflection about scientific production (end of animal testing in biomedical researches and the beginning of a vision within the Human sciences, which sees non-human beings as social actors)
Mestrado
Antropologia Social
Mestre em Antropologia Social

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: 1. The purpose of the first chapter was to give a short introduction to the study. Philosophy is the search for wisdom; to know what a virtuous life is and to know what the morally correct thing to do is. Our lifelong relationship with animals, our attitudes towards them and the ways we treat them are some of the issues that beg philosophers to think. An important question in this regard is if it is morally correct to eat meat or should humans become vegetarian. To answer this question the „Animal Liberation‟ argument, as presented by Peter Singer, was critically analyzed. Does this argument balance our concern for animals with human interests? 2. To understand our attitude towards animals, reviews of the Judeo-Christian and philosophical traditions were done in Chapter 2. The different views related to these traditions were also discussed. The Judeo-Christian view is based on the interpretation of Genesis and the idea of human dominion. Philosophical views on the moral status of animals and moral consideration of animals can be classified in three categories namely indirect theories, direct-but-unequal theories and equal moral status theories. 3. The nature and extent of the current beef production debate was discussed in Chapter 3. The most important issues were the environmental impact of beef production, socio-economic and human health concerns as well as ethical issues related to the inhumane treatment of animals. It was then concluded that most attacks on beef production were biased and did not take context into account. 4. The „Animal Liberation‟ argument was critically analyzed from a logical perspective in Chapter 4, 5 and 6 by using the so called FRISCO approach – with emphasis on the Focus of the argument, Reasons given for the conclusion, the quality of Inferences, the Situation or context of the argument as well as the Clarity of the argument. This argument lacks objectivity and rationality. It includes a number of fallacies, false statements and emotional language. Ideas, concepts and principles were not applied consistently. The argument was therefore found to be unsound. 5. In Chapter 7 the conclusion was stated namely that the “animal liberation” approach could not formulate a sound argument for a vegetarian diet. The „Animal Liberation‟ argument was also unable to balance our concern for animals with human interests, in the process compromising human dignity and freedom. However, human attitudes towards animals and the treatment of animals need to be improved.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 1. Die doel van die eerste hoofstuk was om ʼn kort inleiding tot die studie te gee. Filosofie is die strewe en soeke na wysheid; om te weet wat ʼn deugsame lewe is, en om te weet wat moreel korrek en aanvaarbaar is. Ons verhouding met diere, ons ingesteldheid teenoor diere, asook die manier hoe ons diere behandel, is slegs enkele van die kwessies wat filosowe dwing om daaroor na te dink. ʼn Belangrike vraag in die verband is die volgende: Is dit moreel aanvaarbaar om vleis te eet, of moet die mens ʼn vegetariese dieet volg? Om hierdie vraag te beantwoord word die “Animal Liberation”-argument, soos aangebied deur Peter Singer, krities ontleed. Is hierdie argument in staat om ons kommer oor die behandeling van diere met menslike belange te balanseer? 2. Om die mens se houding en ingesteldheid teenoor diere beter te verstaan, word ʼn oorsig van die Joods-Christelike en filosofiese tradisies in Hoofstuk 2 gedoen. Die verskillende sienings, wat verband hou met hierdie tradisies, word ook kortliks bespreek. Die Joods-Christelike siening is gebaseer op ʼn spesifieke vertolking van Genesis en die idee van menslike heerskappy. Die filosofiese sienings van die morele status, en gevolglik ook die morele inagneming van diere, kan in drie kategorieë, naamlik indirekte teorieë, direk-maar-ongelyke teorieë en die gelyke-morele-status teorieë, opgedeel word. 3. Die aard en omvang van die beesvleisproduksie-debat word in Hoofstuk 3 bespreek. Die belangrikste kwessies, onderliggend aan hierdie debat, het betrekking op die omgewingsimpak van vleisproduksie, sosio-ekonomiese en menslike gesondheidskwessies, asook etiese kwessies wat verband hou met die onaanvaarbare behandeling van diere. Die gevolgtrekking is dat die meeste aanvalle op vleisproduksie eensydig is en ook nie konteks in ag neem nie. 4. Die “Animal Liberation”-argument word in Hoofstuk 4, 5 en 6 krities ontleed vanuit „n logiese perspektief met behulp van die sogenaamde FRISCO-metode – waarin die klem val op die Fokus van die argument, Redes wat aangevoer word vir die konklusie, die gehalte van die afleidings, die Situasie of konteks van die argument, en die helderheid van die argument. Die gevolgtrekking is dat die argument nie objektief en rasioneel is nie, en gebuk gaan onder denkfoute, vals stellings en emosionele taal. Idees, konsepte en beginsel word ook nie konsekwent toegepas nie. Die argument is dus nie betroubaar nie. 5. In Hoofstuk 7 word die bevinding van die tesis gestel, naamlik dat die “animal liberation” benadering nie „n betroubare argument vir ʼn vegetariese dieet kon formuleer nie. Die argument was ook nie in staat om ons kommer oor diere met menslike belange te balanseer nie, en het in die proses menslike waardigheid en vryheid gekompromitteer. Die mens se houding en behandeling van diere, moet egter verander.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior
Este trabalho pretende mostrar que o debate sobre os Direitos Animais possui relevÃncia filosÃfica. Ele destaca o fato de que questÃes concernentes aos animais remetem tambÃm ao homem. Trata-se de um esforÃo para mostrar que restringir aos seres humanos a condiÃÃo de detentores de direitos morais consiste num equÃvoco e, portanto, hà a necessidade de uma Ãtica nÃo antropocÃntrica. O foco principal à a contribuiÃÃo de Tom Regan, o autor afirma que por serem sencientes, os animais sÃo sujeitos de uma vida e possuem o que ele chama de valor inerente, ou seja, suas vidas tÃm um valor e fim em si. Tais afirmaÃÃes sÃo fundamentadas em pesquisas cientÃficas sobre a consciÃncia animal e estudos de etologia. à tambÃm objeto desta investigaÃÃo a abordagem de Peter Singer, que defende o Bem-estarismo animal tendo a senciÃncia como um princÃpio moral. Ressaltamos ainda que, uma vez que a expressÃo âdireitos dos animaisâ comumente se refere à concessÃo de respeito pelos seres humanos aos animais a partir de determinados critÃrios sem que lhes caibam direitos especÃficos, a noÃÃo de âdireitos animaisâ parte do pressuposto de que possuem direitos e que devemos reconhecÃ-los a despeito de nossa vontade; tentaremos corroborar a segunda tese.
This work is intended to show that the debate concerning animal rights is philosophically relevant. It points out the fact that animal issues are related to human beings as well. Therefore, this dissertation is an effort to demonstrate that it is wrong to attribute only to human beings the status of holders of moral rights and that it is necessary to conceive an ethical framework grounded on a non-anthropocentric view. Particular attention is devoted here to the contribution of Tom Reagan who asserts animals are subjects of life and possess what is called inherent value, i.e., animalsâ lives are not means to accomplish ends external to themselves. These affirmations are grounded on scientific studies of animal consciousness and on ethology. Peter Singerâs defense of the well-being of animals based on the fact that they are sentient beings will be also investigated. The expression rights of animals is not used in the context of this demarche because it relates to the respect humans beings should have to non-human animals without the recognition of them as holders of specific moral rights. The expression animal rights is purported to corroborate the notion that such rights are a reality to be accepted regardless the will of human beings.

This study is concerned with how educational legislation shapes and uses freedom for the purpose of governing the parent. The key question guiding the study was: How does the Act constitute the ‘parent’ as a subject position responsible for schooling the child? Central to the work is an examination of the School Education Act 1999 (the Act) using Foucault’s thinking on governmentality. This is prefaced by historical accounts that bring together freedom and childhood as contrived styles of conduct that provide the governmental logic behind the Act. The study reveals how the Act shapes and uses the truth of freedom/childhood to construct the responsible parent as a style of conduct pegged to a neo-liberal political rationality of government. It is this political rationality that provides the node or point of encounter between the technologies of power and the self within the Act which forms the ‘responsible’ identity of the parent as an active self-governing entrepreneur made more visible by the political construction of ‘others.’ This is a legal-political subjectivity centred on the truth of freedom/childhood and a neo-liberal rationality of government that believes that any change to our current ethical way of being in relation to educating the child would ruin the very freedoms upon which our civilised lifestyle depends. In essence, the Act relies on the production of ‘others’ as the poor, Aboriginal and radical who must be regulated and made autonomous to constitute the ‘parent’ as an active consumer whose autonomous educational choices are an expression of responsibility in relation to schooling the child

The city of Palitana, India, has become the first region known to legally install de facto meat bans, essentially making Palitana a vegetarian city by law. These legal steps seem to be the direct result of social pressure put on local legislators in the form of a mass hunger strike performed by local Jain monks. This thesis is aimed at discussing the background of this case, its connections to a broader general discussion of moral and ethical vegetarianism, and arguments in favor of and against the legal installment of a meat ban in the Palitana case. It is concluded that although the meat ban is ideologically and theoretically speaking ethically justifiable and defensible it is in practice, at least in its current form, not ethically desirable.

Tiriamojo darbo tikslas - išanalizuoti gyvūnų teises filosofinių ir socialinių diskursų kontekste, pagrindžiant jas kaip antropocentrinės tradicijos kritikos išraišką. Tyrimo eigoje paaiškėjo, kad gyvūnų teisių teorinę koncepciją galima skirti į dvi kryptis: gyvūnų gerovė ir gyvūnų teisės. Gyvūnų gerovės kryptis reikalauja humaniškesnio elgesio su gyvūnais praktikos, tuo tarpu gyvūnų teisių ideologija reikalauja gyvūnams prigimtinių teisių: į gyvybę ir į laisvę. Praktinis šių koncepcijų įgyvendinimas globaliu mastu prasidėjo tik prieš kelis šimtmečius ir šiandiena tebėra aktualus. Vis didėjantis vegetarų, judėjimų už gyvūnų teises pasaulyje skaičius rodo efektyvią tokių tarptautinių organizacijų kaip PETA prevencinę ir švietėjišką misiją kelti žmonių sąmoningumą ir ieškoti gyvūnų išnaudojimo problemų sprendimo būdų. Deja, mūsų šalyje dar trūksta ir pilietinių iniciatyvų, ir valstybinių institucijų noro spręsti šias problemas. Todėl visuomenė vis dar skeptiškai vertina norą gyvūnams suteikti kokias nors teises, nes įsisenėjusi antropocentrinė pasaulio tvarka kai homo sapiens traktuodamas save kaip didžiausią vertybę ir iškeldamas virš visų kitų būtybių pavertė jas savo interesų tenkinimo šaltiniu. Todėl pagarba ne-žmogaus gyvybei, t.y. pripažinus gyvūno pagrindines prigimtines teises yra suspenduojamas žmogaus veiklos laukas ir gyvūnų eksploatacija trukusi ištisus amžius pripažįstama kaip neteisinga ir nemorali.
The purpose of this work is to analyze the rights of animals in the context of philosophical and sociological discussions and discourses, justifying these rights as an aspect of traditional anthropocentric critique. Research divides the theoretical concept of the rights of animals into two aspects: the “welfare of animals” and the “rights of animals”. The “welfare of animals” requires humane treatment of animals while the “rights of animals” are endowed at birth – to live and to be free. The practice of these two aspects globally started just a few centuries ago and is still relevant today. An increase in the number of vegetarians and the number of animal rights groups show the effectiveness of organizations such as PETA in their mission to educate, prevent animal cruelty, increase awareness, and to search for solutions against animal exploitation. Unfortunately, in our country there is still of shortage of initiative from citizens and willingness from government institutions to resolve animal exploitation issues. Society for the most part is still both skeptical and uncaring if animals have rights because of an ingrained anthropocentric hierarchical view where Homo sapiens esteem themselves with the highest value and raise themselves above other creatures rendering them merely as a resource to fulfill their needs. The honoring of all species with equal value would result in acknowledging animal rights endowed at birth. This in turn must call for a cessation of animal... [to full text]

Journal article co-authored by the author inserted at end (Plant pathology (1991) 40, 67-77) Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-167) Describes the isolation of antibody and DNA probes which vary in their reaction to different anastomosis groups of Rhizoctonia solani. Evidence is presented to show that isolates from anastomosis group 8 are biochemically distinct from isolates in other anastomosis groups found in South Australia.

Ich habe im Jahr 2016 eine Studie durchgeführt, in deren Rahmen der Begriff des Speziesismus expliziert und operationalisiert wurde. Über vier verschiedene Erhebungsmethoden wurden Personen hinsichtlich ihrer Einstellung gegenüber Tieren befragt. Die erhobenen Daten waren Grundlage für eine statistische Prüfung der Reliabilität und Validität des zuvor definierten Konzepts. Die Definition „speziesistischer Einstellungen“ wird im nächsten Abschnitt vorgetragen, anschließend wird im dritten Abschnitt dieser Arbeit die Operationalisierung erläutert. Im vierten Abschnitt werden die Erhebungsmethoden und die erhaltene Stichprobe beschrieben. Der fünfte Abschnitt der Arbeit präsentiert die statistischen Auswertungen. Er ist nochmal in drei Unterabschnitte unterteilt. Zuerst wird die Bildung des Speziesismus-Index erläutert und auf die Verteilung dieses Index eingegangen. Anschließend befassen wir uns ausführlich mit der Reliabilität und Validität des Index. Im dritten Unterabschnitt der empirischen Auswertungen wird schließlich noch auf die theoretische Fruchtbarkeit des Konzepts eingegangen. Der sechste Abschnitt fasst die Arbeit zusammen und gibt einen Ausblick für die weitere empirische Forschung zum Thema Speziesismus.:1. Einleitung; 2. Defintion Speziesismus 3. Operationalisierung 4. Erhebungsmethoden und Sample 5. Empirische Auswertungen 6. Zusammenfassung

The popularization of academic spaces that combine Buddhist philosophy with the literature of the Romantic period – a discipline I refer to as Buddhist Romantic Studies – have exposed the lack of scholarly attention Samuel Taylor Coleridge and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner have received within such studies. Validating Coleridge’s right to exist within Buddhist Romantic spheres, my thesis argues that Coleridge was cognizant of Buddhism through historical and textual encounters. To create a space for The Rime within Buddhist Romantic Studies, my thesis provides an interpretation of the poem that centers on the concept of prajna, or wisdom, as a vital tool for cultivating the mind. Focusing on prajna, I argue that the Mariner’s didactic story traces his cognitive voyage from ignorance to enlightenment. By examining The Rime within the framework of Buddhism, readers will also be able to grasp the importance of cultivating the mind and transcending ignorance.

The thesis relates Coetzee’s focus on animals to his more familiar themes of the possibility of fiction as a vehicle for serious ethical issues, the interrogation of power and authority, a concern for the voiceless and the marginalised, a keen sense of justice and the question of secular salvation. The concepts developed in substantial analyses of The Lives of Animals and Disgrace are thereafter applied to several other works of Coetzee. The thesis attempts to position J.M. Coetzee within the animal rights debate and to assess his use of his problematic persona, Elizabeth Costello, who controversially uses reason to attack the rationalism of the Western philosophical tradition and who espouses the sympathetic imagination as a means of developing respect for animals. Costello’s challenge to the philosophers is problematised by being traced back to Plato’s original formulation of the opposition between philosophers and poets. It is argued that Costello represents a fallible Socratic figure who critiques not reason per se but an unqualified rationalism. This characterisation of Costello explains her preoccupation with raising the ethical awareness of her audience, as midwife to the birth of ideas, and perceptions of her as a wise fool, a characterisation that is confirmed by the use of Bakhtin’s notion of the Socratic dialogue as one of the precursors of the modern novel. Along with the Platonic/Socratic binary, Bakhtin’s concepts of polyphony, dialogism and monologism are applied to analyses of Coetzee’s fiction, which, in keeping with his anti-authoritarianism, is shown to be polyphonic. Costello’s apparently insensitive and repeated comparison of industrialised animal farms to Nazi concentration camps is likewise scrutinised. It is argued that the point of the comparison is to question the normality and humanity of societies that choose to ignore the suffering of animals in the animal exploitation industries. Her raising the question of this willed ignorance is related to Socrates’ maxim that evil is a result of ignorance, and Coetzee’s concern with the psychic cost to their humanity of those complicit in these industries is considered. David Lurie’s evocation of Holocaust imagery in Disgrace is also examined, as is the role of art and the sympathetic imagination in attaining a degree of grace. Platonic ideas on eros, beauty, art and immortality are found to be central to Coetzee’s fiction, not only to that relating to Costello but also to Disgrace and much of his other work. While acknowledging the importance of Plato, Coetzee continuously extends, tests and subverts his ideas, frequently subjecting them to carnivalistic play. Unexpected connections are made between Coetzee’s conception of the parent-child relationship, both biological and intellectual, and his notions of creativity, power and justice. Ideas of eating and fasting are explored in his fiction and related to the hunger-artistry of Franz Kafka. Coetzee’s ideas on animals, writing and diet are found to be essential to his notions of secular salvation and an ethical way of life.
Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
English
unrestricted

Major animal welfare concerns existed about mortalities which occurred among the two million sheep transported by sea from Victoria, Australia to the Middle East each year during the 1980s. Research was undertaken to better define the extent of the mortalities, to establish the causes of death, and to prioritise and methodically unravel the underlying causes and risk factors involved.
An analysis of five years of existing industry data on 100 sheep shipments from Victoria (1984/85-1988/89) showed that mortality rates ranged mostly between 1% and 4%, with an average of around 2 ½%. These analyses also showed that sporadic episodes of sudden, high mortality occurred in association with hot and humid conditions in Middle Eastern waters. Heat stress was the presumptive diagnosis. While the occurrences were rare, they accounted for 9% of all deaths.
Observational studies undertaken on 8 research voyages with sheep to the Middle East showed that two other causes of death – an inanition syndrome and salmonellosis – accounted for the majority of all mortalities. Together, these two conditions caused around three quarters of all deaths.
The following risk factors associated with these two major diseases were identified: poor feeding behaviour in the assembly feedlot; physiologic stress at the point of arrival of sheep at the feedlot; and the physical location of sheep on board ships, whereby sheep in the upper tier of pens on every deck of a ship suffered substantially higher mortality rates than those in the lower tier.
Specific studies on the inanition syndrome showed that affected sheep were persistent poor consumers of the pelleted shipboard ration. A problem of severe weight loss was detected in an additional 5% of sheep, which appeared to be associated with inanition. Sheep with the syndrome still had an appetite for familiar food such as hay. An hypothesis was developed that the syndrome may be caused by the failure of affected sheep to recognise or accept the pelleted ration as food.
The epidemiology of salmonellosis outbreaks in the live sheep trade was elucidated. The outbreaks occurred as rise and fall epidemics starting with a large increase in faecal salmonella excretion from sheep immediately after their arrival in the assembly feedlot near the port of embarkation. Epidemics of mortalities from salmonellosis peaked one to two weeks later, then declined before the voyage was completed. Evidence was obtained that salmonella infections persisted in the feedlot environment between consecutive batches of sheep initiating new epidemics in subsequent consignments.
The differences in shipboard mortality rates between upper and lower tier pens (the “tier’ effect) was investigated with observational studies and a major field trial. An hypothesis that the effect was caused by higher light intensity in upper tier pens was tested and rejected. A remaining hypothesis is that the sheep’s fear of elevation in upper tier pens may be the cause.
Overall, the research has advanced knowledge substantially on animal health in the live sheep trade. The findings will influence the debate on animal welfare in the trade, they will be of practical use to the industry, and they have focussed research direction for the future.

"Citizen Canine" explores the sacrificial underpinnings of politics via a critique of the boundary between human and animal in Homer, Aeschylus, and Plato. I argue that the concept "animal" serves a functional rather than descriptive role: it is born of a sacrificial worldview that sees violence as a necessary foundation for human life, and which therefore tries to localize and contain this violence as much as possible through a system of sacrifice. I begin the dissertation with Martha Nussbaum's recent work on the "frontiers of justice," but argue that she is insufficiently attentive to the roles that animality and the rhetoric of sacrifice play in her discourse. I then examine the concept of sacrifice more thematically - using Jacques Derrida and Rene Girard among others - which justifies the move back to the Greeks to understand the specific manner in which sacrifice, human, and animal are intertwined at a crucial moment in Western history. In the Greeks we see an inception of this sacrificial concept of the political, and the movement from Homer to Aeschylus to Plato presents us with three successive attempts to understand and control cosmic violence through a sacrificial order. I contend that a similar logic continues to inform the exclusions (native/foreigner, masculine/feminine, human/nature) that mark the borders of the contemporary political community - hence my dissertation is directed both at the specific animal/human dichotomy as well as the larger question of how political identity is generated by the production, sacrifice and exclusion of marginalized communities.

Dissertation

Dans un contexte où la reconnaissance de droits légaux à certaines entités non humaines apparaît comme une évolution juridique de plus en plus plausible, ce mémoire se veut une exploration de la littérature philosophique et juridique en faveur de l’octroi de la personnalité juridique aux animaux. Tout d’abord, nous offrirons un bref tour d’horizon historique de la notion de personne et pourrons constater que si celle-ci a fortement été associée à l’autonomie morale dans l’histoire du droit et de la philosophie, cette définition de la personnalité souffre d’importantes incohérences lorsque vient le temps de justifier l’extension de la personnalité aux êtres humains dépourvus de cette autonomie morale. C’est le cas, par exemple, des enfants, des êtres humains plongés dans le coma, des handicapés mentaux ou encore de certaines personnes âgées. Nous pourrons également constater que le geste qui consiste à octroyer des droits légaux à ces individus tout en refusant de reconnaître ces mêmes droits aux animaux repose sur des bases théoriques fragiles qu’il convient de revoir l’aide d’une analyse approfondie des théories des droits des animaux proposées depuis les années 1970. Ces théories, et plus particulièrement celles proposées par Peter Singer, Tom Regan et Gary Francione, feront l’objet d’un examen qui permettra de faire ressortir leurs forces et faiblesses respectives. Enfin, dans le dernier chapitre de ce mémoire, nous nous pencherons sur le rôle que peuvent jouer les appels aux droits moraux dans l’attribution de droits légaux. Nous y brosserons aussi une esquisse des différentes formes de personnalité juridique et de statut politique que pourraient se voir octroyer les animaux non humains.
In a context where the recognition of legal rights to certain nonhuman entities appears to be an increasingly plausible legal development, this master’s thesis proposes an exploration of the philosophical and legal literature in favor of granting legal personhood to animals. First, I will provide a brief historical overview of the notion of “person.” I will also note that, while it has been strongly associated with moral autonomy in the history of law and philosophy, this definition of personhood suffers from substantial inconsistencies in justifying the granting of legal personhood to non-autonomous human beings. It is the case, for instance, of children, comatose human beings, the mentally disabled, and the elderly. We will also see that granting legal rights to these individuals while refusing to recognize these same rights to nonhuman animals is based on fragile theoretical foundations that need to be rectified with a thorough analysis of the theories of animal rights proposed since the 1970s. These theories, specifically the ones put forward by Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Gary Francione, will be examined to identify their respective strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the final chapter of this research will examine the decisive role that appeals to moral rights can play in granting legal rights to animals. It also outlines the various forms of legal personhood and political status that might be attributed to nonhuman animals.

Dans ce mémoire, je cherche à expliquer comment politiquement intégrer les générations futures et les animaux non humains. Pour ce faire, je revisite les débats en philosophie concernant la valeur intrinsèque, les théories de justice, les droits et la représentation politique. J’avance que ce qui a été réalisé concernant les générations futures peut servir à la cause des animaux non humains, et inversement. J’analyse ainsi ce qui rassemble ces sans-voix. Après leur avoir accordé une valeur intrinsèque et politique, je leur reconnais des droits à l’intégrité physique, la vie et la liberté. Je propose finalement les solutions qui peuvent servir à contourner le problème de leur non audibilité en démocratie.
In this M.A. research, I try to understand how to politically admit future generations and nonhuman animals. To do this, I analyze debates in philosophy about intrinsic value, theories of justice, rights and political representation. I suggest that what has been accomplished about future generations can serve to the animal cause and conversely. I review what brings together this voices-less. After I allowed them an intrinsic and political value, I recognize them with rights to physically integrity, life and liberty. Finally, I suggest solutions to by-pass the problem of non-audibility in democracy.

This thesis seeks to outline the paradoxical relationship that Australia's former Attorney General and Minister for External Affairs, Herbert Vere Evatt had with the preservation of civil Liberties within Australia during his long and fruitful career.

This thesis is comprised of two parts: a Studio Research component with accompanying Exegesis (66%), and a Dissertation (33%). The Dissertation provides the historical theoretical component that informs the Studio Research and Exegesis, entitled The Dingo in the Colonial Imagination.This body of work investigates the tensions between humans and animals that share boundaries. It focuses on the terse relations between humans, dingoes and wild dogs in southeastern Australia. Ideological and practical themes emerged through the studio-based and theoretical research, which spans a range of disciplines including art, science, culture and history. At its core is how humans and undomesticated animals share arbitrary boundaries and suffer the transgression of these boundaries. Primary field research informed the studio and theoretical aspects of the project. It involved consultation with individuals and agencies affected by dingoes and wild dogs in interface zones where private and government managed lands intersect. The 30,000 word dissertation traces colonial visual representations of the Australian native dog during the century that spans early European settlement to Federation. It follows perceptions of the dingo as it is imagined and encountered by European settlers. The dingo's guise ranges from scientific curiosity, object of desire, symbol of wilderness, metaphor for a dying race and as an enemy that threatens the social and economic fabric of the colonial project. The studio work amplifies the influence of these colonial perceptions on contemporary attitudes to dingoes. It follows a trajectory of the disappearing dingo in its representational form, to its implied remnant presence within the farmers' psyche. Early studio work explored a range of materials and practices, encompassing sculptural and drawing strategies, and took its cue from a macabre ritual of animal shaming in remote regional Australia, the so-called 'dog trees', that display the carcasses of one or multiple dingoes and wild dogs. The studio work has culminated in a large-scale sculptural installation, designed to pare back the visual language to its essential elements. This work incorporates the dissolution of the dingo form, which becomes absorbed into the personal objects embedded into the farmers' private territory. The poetic objects that form the final sculptural work presented for examination, Lines of desire, become metaphors for the dingo's capacity to survive and unsettle the rural subconscious.

This thesis examines the banning of a communist speaker. Lieutenant E.A.H. Laurie, at Melbourne Teachers' College in July, 1944 and argues that the decision to ban Laurie was unwarranted and politically motivated. The banning, which was enforced by the Minister for Public Instruction, Thomas Tuke Hollway, appears to have been based on Hollway's firm anti-communist views and political opportunism. A. J. Law, Principal of the Teachers' College, was also responsible for banning Laurie. However, Law's decision to ban Laurie was probably directed by Hollway and supported by J. Seitz, Director of Education.

This creative thesis is written in two parts: Volume 1 is a novel and Volume 2 is the accompanying exegesis which explains the process of contextualising a school of philosophy’s politics within the novel. These volumes combine to build a new window onto contemporary theoretical debate regarding the sustainability of so-called liberal democracy. Volume 1, the novel, provides a fictionalised account of federal government involvement with the popular music industry in Australia during the 1990s. The story is told from the point of view of a newcomer to a music industry organisation funded by the federal government called the ‘Oz Rock Foundation’. This organisation is run by a former federal politician who maintains close links with his political colleagues still in government. When the newcomer discovers a young Aboriginal prisoner with exceptional musical talents, the former politician seizes this opportunity to help launch the Oz Rock Foundation in the ‘Year of the Indigenous Person’. This venture, however, has unexpected consequences which emerge as the story develops. Volume 2, the exegesis, employs a narrative framework to explain the process by which an analysis of philosopher Richard Rorty’s version of neopragmatism fed into the creation of the novel. Political issues raised by neopragmatism are thematically linked to fictional contexts informed by the history of government experimentation with the Australian music industry. The process is guided by questions designed to assess whether a neopragmatic version of liberal democracy is sustainable in this form. The novel is further shaped by its attempt to extend a particular tradition, within the genre of the political novel, that contextualises themes related to ‘natural rights’ as the foundation of liberal democracy. The exegesis, in its discussion of issues raised by the completed novel, then draws on existing research into the sustainability of democracy in order to synthesise an overall perspective. NOTE: Due to copyright arrangements with the publisher of Making Noises, the text of the novel (Volume 1) is not available as part of the digital version of this thesis. The novel was published in November 2006 by OverDog Press (Melbourne, Australia). The ISBN is: 9780975797921