From “Animal Machines” (R. Harrison) through “The Road Through the Industrial Farm” (P. Singer) to “Animal Welfare” (G.L. Francione): A Proper Reading of the Concept of Animal Welfare

Abstract

The paper touches upon fundamental questions connected with shaping the ethics of animal protection. It presents the historical process of evolution of attitudes towards animals, from reification to empowerment. For many centuries, animals were treated as things, an object of rights to which humans were entitled, including the right of ownership. In ethics there appear increasingly numerous discussions on the moral status, being a subject as well as human responsibilities towards other living creatures capable of feeling pain and suffering. The attitude of people towards other living species has significantly transformed over the recent 70 years. Since the 1960s, activists, writers and philosophers (e.g. R. Harrison, P. Singer, G.L. Francione) have begun to insist on the dignified treatment of animals. This trend also points to the connection between treating animals like objects and the global development of the animal industrial sector. This phenomenon is growing as the scale of industrialization of the animal industry intensifies. In light of this, the question arises about the proper understanding of the concept of animal welfare.