Man and the World of Animals according to Robert Spaemann

Abstract

The article presents some threads of interesting philosophical and ethical analyses by Robert Spaemann on the animal world, undertaken by him in the Aristotelian spirit. They concern issues that seem to be of particular interest to both: experts on the subject and contemporary man. These are: nature (its specificity) and the ontic status of animals, suffering and its sources (including experiments and training), killing animals and eating their flesh.

Spaemann not only did not question, but also, in the spirit of classical and contemporary thought (Helmuth Plessner), originally emphasised the essence of man over animals. He did it, among others, by emphasising the human ability to self-relativizing.

According to the eminent German thinker, the ethical principles regulating our relationship to animals are closely related to the metaphysical understanding of their being. These principles are based on the teleological nature of our smaller brothers and the subjective form of their existence. Spaemann emphasised the role of kindness, responsibility and care, the utilitarian principle of the profit and loss account, Kant’s categorical imperative and the personalistic norm. On the other hand, he developed the obligation to protect animals and responsible for them in the context of human dignity.

The article attempts to show the importance of the teleological perspective, which no one has shown so clearly and convincingly in relation to animals in contemporary German philosophy. The article also compared his position on the animal world with the vision of Peter Singer. First of all, the article attempts to reconstruct Spaemann’s thought on the ethical and metaphysical aspects of man’s relationship to animals.