Ethical Rights: Humans and Animals

1. 環境倫理學 鄭先祐 (Ayo) 教授 國立臺南大學 環境 與生態學院生態科學與技術學系

2. 環境倫理 • T00. 簡介：環境倫理與哲學 • Part I 倫理與科學 • T01. 道德哲學(moral philosophy)：理性與感性 • T02. 道德考量(moral consideration)：倫理與科學 • T03. 倫理與經濟：公有財 (The Common Good) • Part II 倫理推定(presumptions)的建構與驗證 • T04. 責任 (duty)：自然和未來世代 • T05. 品性 (character)：生態美德 • T06. 關係 (relationships)：同理心與正直 • T07. 權利 (rights)：人類與動物 • T08. 後果 (consequences)：預測未來 Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

3. 環境倫理學 • Part III 自然學習 (Learning from Nature) • T09. 生活：可持續消費 • T10. 環境政策：政府、機構和NGOs • T11. 健康環境：空氣與水 • T12. 農業：土地與食物 • T13. 公有地：適應式管理 • T14. 城鄉生態學：綠色建構 • T15. 氣候變遷：全球溫化 Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

4. Part II 倫理推定(presumptions)的建構與驗證 T07. 權利(Rights)：人類與動物 鄭先祐 (Ayo) 教授 國立臺南大學 環境 與生態學院生態科學與技術學系

5. Moral and legal rights • Law transform moral rights into legal rights. • The “rights to life” is a moral claim. • The right to the presumption of innocence is a legal right that recognizes a moral right. • Human rights are moral rights that are affirmed by international law as legal rights, because these rights are understood as the necessary social conditions for human dignity. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

6. T07. 權利(Rights)：人類與動物 責任 (Duty) 好行為 Right action 責任論的 Deontological 權利 (Rights) 倫理 Ethics 品行 (Character) 做好 Being good 目的論的 Teleological 關係 (Relationships) 後果 Consequences Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

7. T07. 權利(Rights)：人類與動物 • 7.1 Human Rights Law • 7.2 Environmental Rights • 7.3 Animal Rights? • 7.4 a Rights strategy Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

8. 7.1 Human Rights Law • The American Declaration of Independence asserts that“all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable (不能讓與的) rights”. • The French revolution proclaimed that “the rights of man” are natural rights intrinsic to the humanity of each person. • Civil and political rights have intrinsic worth, because these rights are rooted in our human nature as reasoning and autonomous persons. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

9. Ethical presumption • As the start of the twentieth century, legal rights were conceived as liberties guaranteed to citizens by national governments. • This theory of positive law prevailed until after World War II, when the victorious Allies faced the terrible fact that Nazi Germany had acted “legally” (under German law) in committing what were characterized after the war as crimes against humanity. • The UN were conceived to embody the ethical presumption that some moral rights transcend(超越) the laws of nations. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

10. International law • The human rights are now asserted in international law as the necessary social conditions for human dignity. • The right of peoples to economic and socialdevelopment and also the right of every person to a healthy environment. • The Charter of the UN and the Universal declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in 1948, assert that every nation and citizen have a moral duty to protect international human rights. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

11. Four freedoms • The UDHR begins by affirming that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienablerights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” • President Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated the “four freedoms”. • Enjoy freedom of speech and belief, and freedom from fear and want (an adequate standard of living) Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

12. Human rights treaties • Both came into force as international law in 1976. • International Covenant on Civil and Political Right (ICCPR) • International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) • The right of nondiscrimination. • The right of self-determination, • which is stated as the right of all peoples “ to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

13. Moral presumptions(基本人權)ICCPR (civic and political rights) • 自由權 (liberty) 和 安全權 (security) • No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. (獨斷的被捕或居留) • The right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.(無罪推定) • Freedom of expression(言論表達) • Peaceful assembly(和平集會) • 法律前，人人平等，受到法律同等保護。 Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

14. 經濟權與社會權ICESCR: progressive realization • 工作權 (the right to work) • 工作場所的健康和安全 (safe and healthy) • 社會安全 (social security) • 基本生活權：the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

15. Europe • In 1950 the Council of Europe adopted the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. (the European Convention on Human Rights) • In 1993 the Treaty on European Union (TEU) came into force. • The TEU reaffirms the European Convention on Human Rights and makes consolidation of “democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

16. Sustainable development • The treaties of Amsterdam (1999) and Nice (2000) add specificity to the TEU, and a Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states the civil, political, economic, and socialrights of persons residing in the EU. Article 37 of this charter asserts that • A high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the policies of the Union and ensured in accordance with the principle of sustainable development. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

17. 7.2 Environmental Rights • Neither the ICCPR nor the ICESCR directly protects the environment, but each covenant affirms human rights that affect decisions about the environment. • 透過參與相關決策，落實個人與社區的環境保護。 • ICESCRaffirms the human rights to adequate food, clothing, housing, and health care, as well as a safe working environment, and the covenant recognizes that realizing these human rights requires economic development in a society. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

18. Sustainable development • Brundtland Commission Report under the title Our Common Future, published in 1987. (UNWorld Commission on Environment and Development, in 1983) • Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. • Earth Summit in 1992, Agenda 21 • Established the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) under UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) • World Summit on Sustainable Development, in 2002 Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

19. Sustainable development • The fifteenth session of CSD, held in May 2007, continued the commission’s focus on energy, industrial development, air pollution and the atmosphere, and climate change. • Affirming sustainable development includes economic development, social development, and environmental protection. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

20. Sustainable development • The Beijing Declaration of the Fourth World Conference on Women states • We are deeply convinced that economic development, social development and environmental protection are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development, which is the framework for our efforts to achieve a higher quality of life for all people. • Green development, giving priority to “environmental sustainability over economic and culturalsustainability.” Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

21. Right to a Healthy Environment • In 1972 the UN Conference on the Human Environment (the Stockholm Conference) asserted the “right to a healthy environment.” • Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations. • The right to a healthy environment was inferred in the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

22. Right to a Healthy Environment • The 1992 Earth Summit produced the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC). • One hundred and sixty-nine nations have ratified the Kyoto protocol to this treaty, and this protocol came into force in 2005. • US ratified the FCCC, but has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. India and China have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but are not required under the protocol to reduce the carbon emission produced within their countries. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

23. Regional enforcement • Latin American countries support the right to a healthy environment. Protocol of San Salvador (1988), affirms “the right to live in a healthy environment.” • The right to a healthy environment has been upheld by courts in Latin American countries including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. • To protect indigenous peoples, Latin American courts have affirmed links between the right to a healthy environment and the rights to life and to cultural development. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

24. The constitution • All citizens have the right to a healthy and pleasant environment. (South Korea) • Everyone has right (a) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well being; (b) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that (i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation; (ii) promote conservation; and (iii) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resource while promoting justifiable economic and social development. (South Africa) • Argentina, Ecuador, Hungary, Peru, Portugal, the Philippines, South Africa, and South Korea Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

25. 7.3 Animal Rights? • In the 1970s a few environmental activists began to wear a button asserting “Animals have rights, too.” • Humanitarian(人道主義) law: English humanitarians in 1824 organized the Society for the Prevention of cruelty to animals, and in 1840 it became a “royal society” which is why it is known today is the RSPCA. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

26. Rights claims • In 1867 John Muir wrote: • How blind to the rights of all the rest of creation • A century later David R. Brower, a founder of the Sierra Club, proclaimed, • I believe in the rights of creatures other than man. • In 1979 Robert Hunter, one of the founder members of Greenpeace, framed the environmental agenda as claim for the rights of nature. • We must seriously begin to inquire into the rights of rabbits and turnips (蕪菁), the rights of soil and swamp, the rights of the atmosphere, and, ultimately, the rights of the planet. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

27. Inherent value • Tom Regan argues that interests do not justify rights. • What has value for the utilitarian is the satisfaction of an individual’s interests, not the individual whose interests they are. • Individuals have rights because of their inherent value. • The “subject of a life” criteria are the sole basis for affirming the inherent rights of members of the moral community. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

28. Animal rights movement • Calls for an end to: • The use of animals in cosmetic testing • The coercive use of any animal in military research, or in such research topics as the deleterious effects of smoking, maternal deprivation and drug addiction. • The traditions of sport hunting and trapping of wildlife. • The commerce in the skins of other animals • The capture and training of wild animals, for purposed of entertainment. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

29. 7.4 a Rights strategy • The right to sustainable development • Meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. • Includes economic development, social development, and environmental protection • Realize progressively the social right to health, healthy working conditions, and a healthy environment. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

30. We should protect sentient animals in our care by affirming our duty to support public policies that prohibit human acts of cruelty, minimize animal suffering, and provide an environment for animals that is healthy and natural. • For animals in the wild, we have a duty to ensure that human activities do not harm the integrity of animal habitats and preserve biodiversity by protecting endangered species. Ayo Env. Ethics 2011

31. 問題與討論 Ayo NUTN website: http://myweb.nutn.edu.tw/~hycheng/