Abstract:

Humanity shares the world with other beings, species relate to each other. The relationship between humans and animals, which has a long historical history, is sometimes negative. There are cases where animals are exposed to bad treatment of humans. In the history of philosophy, the moral status of animals, their rights, and their duties are often discussed. Rawls, one of the influential names of the twentieth century, also claims that in discussing the possibility of a fair society, the animals are not the subject of political life, but that people are only obliged to treat them with compassion and mercy. Nussbaum, in contrast to his teacher, points out that animals and humans have common characteristics, and that the relationship between them should be arranged in the framework of justice. According to him, the Rawlsist theory does not see animals as the subject of justice, it is insufficient to solve the injustice they are exposed to. In this study, Rawls’s theory will also point out contractual and cantistic elements, which are the reasons for the state of animals to remain unopen, and express the criticism in the framework of Nussbaum’s ability approach. Nussbaum’s suggestions and opinions to solve animal issues, which are trying to create a world that protects animals and living spaces as well as for humans, will be explained in general lines.

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