Teoria etyczna J. Benthama a dereifikacja i prawa zwierząt
Bentham’s ethical theory and dereification and rights of animals

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the question of whether J. Bentham’s ethical theory can serve as a theoretical justification for the statutory dereification of animals. This author saw a causal connection between cruelty to animals and classifying them as a thing (res) in law. The correctness of this conclusion appears debatable, however. The obligation to treat animals in a humane manner is not connected to and, in particular, does not issue from a statutory declaration that an animal is not a thing. This leads to the conclusion that statutory dereification is an ideological concept rather than a legal one. While by itself it does not improve the situation of animals, it nevertheless, in a legal perspective, opens the door to recognizing them as subjects of law, and, in the future, possibly to granting them rights.

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