DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Animals, Political Liberalism and Public Reason

Federico Zuolo author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Published:18th Jul '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Animals, Political Liberalism and Public Reason cover

This book explores the problem of disagreement concerning the treatment of animals in a liberal society. Current laws include an unprecedented concern for animal welfare, yet disagreement remains pervasive. This issue has so far been neglected both in political philosophy and animal ethics. Although starting from disagreement has been the hallmark of many politically liberal theories, none have been devoted to the treatment of animals, and conversely, most theories in animal ethics do not take the disagreement on this issue seriously. Bridging this divide with a change of perspective, Zuolo argues that we should begin from the disagreement on the moral status of animals and the treatment we owe them.

Reconstructing the epistemic nature of disagreement about animals, Zuolo proposes a novel form of public justification to find principles acceptable to all. By setting out a unified framework which honours the liberal principles of respect for diversity, a robust liberal political theory capable of dealing with diverse forms of disagreement, and even some forms of radical dissent, is achieved.


“The application of the views on animals directly to the question of policy is certainly more determinate and helpful. … Zuolo has provided the first substantial engagement with political legitimacy and public justification in the context of animal political philosophy, and for that reason his work deserves consideration.” (Marcus Schultz-Bergin, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Vol. 24, 2021)

ISBN: 9783030495114

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

280 pages

1st ed. 2020