Empathy with Animals: A Litmus Test for Legal Personhood?

Dillard, Carter

Abstract

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Empathy with Animals: A Litmus Test for Legal Personhood?

Carter Dillard

Visiting Scholar, Vulnerability and Human Condition Initiative, Feminism and Legal Theory Project, Emory University School of Law.

May 15, 2012

Animal Law Review, Vol. 19, 2012 (Introduction, Invited)

Abstract:
Is there any relationship between the disposition of some humans to empathize with and respond to the interests of nonhuman animals, and the criteria we ought to use for determining who becomes a legal person? This brief essay argues that there is, by employing a thick conception of legal personhood, and suggests that criteria be used to determine who constitutes our legality in the future.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: constitutional law, animal law, reproductive rights, bioethics, legal personhood, vulnerability

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Date posted: May 15, 2012 ; Last revised: February 26, 2013

Suggested Citation

Dillard, Carter , Empathy with Animals: A Litmus Test for Legal Personhood? (May 15, 2012). Animal Law Review, Vol. 19, 2012 (Introduction, Invited). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2060596

Contact Information

Carter Dillard (Contact Author)

Visiting Scholar, Vulnerability and Human Condition Initiative, Feminism and Legal Theory Project, Emory University School of Law. ( email )

1301 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30322
United States