Introduction
1. Principles of ethical treatment of animals
2. The problem of law and duty in relation to animals
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Bioethics is understood as a section of ethics that examines the area of human relations with various living forms. The word “ethics” itself is defined as a person’s responsibility to others; Thus, bioethics is understood as a field of knowledge about human behavior towards others and as a philosophical concept concerning the moral side of human behavior. The concept of "bioethics" arose recently, several decades ago, however, during this time bioethics has made quick steps forward. A number of countries have centers for bioethics; The European Union has a Bioethics Committee. A committee with the same name has been opened at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Bioethics examines the ethicality of human behavior towards animals; Some foreign authors call this direction "biological" bioethics." Another direction of bioethics is the ethics of attitude towards human beings; in this regard, bioethics merges with medical ethics - deontology.
The question that treatment of animals can and should be ethical was finally resolved relatively recently. For many centuries, the prevailing opinion was that only man has value as a living being and has the right to arbitrarily use any objects of living and inanimate nature. This type of worldview is called anthropocentrism (from the Greek word “anthropos” - man).
However, the protest of the best part of humanity against cruelty to animals, the development of ethical philosophical thought, especially at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries, led humanity to the need to reconsider its views on the treatment of animals, question the one-sidedness of its ethics and develop a more humane and a fair view of one’s status in the outside world.
1. Principles of ethical treatment of animals
The imaginary lack of rights of animals, the delusion that our actions regarding them have no moral significance, or, in moral language, that there are no duties towards animals, this manifests outrageous rudeness and barbarity
The most spiritually developed part of humanity has been protesting against the cruel treatment of animals for a long time; however, the approach to this problem was different. Ethists of distant eras mainly insisted on the need for compassion for animals and appealed to human mercy. This interpretation of the problem continues to be used to this day by organizations called “animal welfare” societies, which in their activities rely on an emotional attitude towards animals, mainly domestic ones. Since the 18th century, philosophers and theologians began to offer other arguments in favor of reconsidering man's relationship with animals. They put forward the idea of justice (X. Primatt), the idea of a person’s duty to be merciful to living beings. The idea of justice for animals was developed in the concept of Animal Rights, according to which the only ethical approach to the problem is the fair treatment of all living beings and the satisfaction of their basic needs.
Pointing out that animals deserve to be treated fairly and their interests must be protected, supporters of the idea of Animal Rights have developed and argued for the independent value of animals.
For many centuries, the anthropocentric approach to the evaluation of animals has forced people to perceive the animal through the prism of its usefulness to people. Even if the discussion was not about the benefits of an animal as a food product, raw material for clothing or a biological model in experiments, but about the bonds of affection between a person and an animal or about compassion for an animal, the situation was considered only from the point of view of benefits for humans. It was pointed out that animals are valuable to us because they brighten up loneliness, help maintain health, have a beneficial effect on the nervous system, and help raise responsive children. Not a word was said about what animals gain from contact with humans, whether the role of an object of mercy on the part of children is easily given to them, especially the role of a living toy.
Science has resolved the question of what animals can feel, think, communicate with each other and with humans. The species of monkeys closest to humans - anthropoids - can not only speak using a system of signals such as the alphabet of the deaf and dumb, but can also engage in art - drawing. Observations by ethologists have shown the complexity of the animal psyche, their capacity for deep emotions, and even the presence of altruistic behavior.
Therefore, the documents defining the strategy of the World Society for the Protection of Animals indicate that animals are sentient beings and, as such, have needs. If the needs of animals, in general, are similar to the needs of humans: to eat, reproduce, work, play, communicate with their own kind, then, obviously, they must also be satisfied. Man has always considered it his privilege to have needs and his right to satisfy them.
But if you rely on logic and principles of justice, it is difficult to prove that the needs of one type of living beings should be satisfied, but not others. It is also not easy to prove that a person has independent value and an animal does not.
When determining the independent value of humans and animals, different approaches to the problem are used: some authors believe that the higher value of a person compared to animals is determined by the level of his development, intelligence, and the presence of a soul. Leaving aside the debate about the soul, it can be pointed out that many philosophers and scientists criticize this approach; they also consider the differentiation of the value of different animal species depending on the level of their organization to be unlawful. In this case, they point out, it would be necessary to discriminate among people depending on their level of intelligence - that is, consider children, mentally ill people, or simply less valuable as less valuable. developed people with a normal psyche. If this approach is rejected as unethical, there is no reason to consider one species of animal more valuable than another. In his article “The Value of Sentient Beings,” the American author Dr. Michael W. Fox* writes: “Animal life has its own purpose, and is not a means of satisfying human needs.” He goes on to say, “It can be reasoned that a living being that is more intelligent and more self-aware than others has greater intrinsic value.” “One can base a hierarchy of independent values on the “richness of experience” of animals, on the complexity of their nervous system.” But, giving an example where the value of chimpanzees and whales was placed higher than the value of worms and mosquitoes. M. Fox asks: “But isn’t the life of a worm as dear to a worm as the life of a whale is to a whale?”
Of particular interest is the discussion about the independent value of animals in religion. A number of religions recognize reincarnation - that is, the transition of the soul sequentially from one creature to another, from one animal to another, then to a person, after which the soul can again pass to an animal. In these religions, the question of the value of man, as the only being with a soul, disappeared. The position that animals do not have souls, contained in the dogmas of the Christian religion, had a negative impact on the status of animals and on the assessment of their independent value in Christian countries. Modern theologians have found reasons to look at the value of animals from a different point of view, but in accordance with theological teachings. The famous religious philosopher and theologian of our time, Dr. Andrew Linzi, writes: “The entire universe was created by love, and what is created by love cannot but have value. God, by his grace, has made all creatures on earth precious in his eyes.” “If all creatures exist for God, if God is behind each of them, then how can human beings go against God?” A succinct idea of theological or theological rights of animals goes like this: if God is behind them, then we cannot be against them.
Speaking about the theological arguments for the independent value of animals, we should remember the 16th century philosopher Michel de Montaigne, who wrote: “Remembering that one and the same creator ... placed all creatures in his wonderful palace to serve him, and that they, just as we belong to him, I say that we have reason to show both respect and love for them."
The universal ethics of A. Schweitzer is also a substantiation of the principle of the independent value of an animal. According to A. Schweitzer, any life is precious in its uniqueness, and this equals all living beings in their value. Therefore, life is a phenomenon that inspires respect and awe. This is where the principle of Schweitzer’s universal ethics comes from - “reverence for life.”
“As experience tells me,” says A. Schweitzer, “ethics is an inner urge to show to all living things the same respect that I feel towards myself.”
When we talk about a person’s personality, we mean the individuality of his psyche, we imagine him as a “reflector of the universe,” that is, a being who contains in his consciousness the world, which refracted it in its own way. But the animal also “reflects” the universe in its brain; it also feels itself as a unique creation, opposed to the rest of the world. His psyche is as individual - as is his anatomy and physiology; and these individual characteristics are superimposed on the species characteristics of the animal. An animal, just like a person, is in constant interaction with the outside world, and this interaction is individual for each animal, as well as for each individual person. Man does not have those special connections with the world around him that would fundamentally distinguish him from animals; those components of the psyche that give him the right to be called a person are also inherent in the animal. Human contacts with animals, not only domestic ones, but also wild ones, show that a person has a selective attitude towards animals: he loves some more, others less, and evaluates them differently, that is, his emotional and rational assessments of individual animals are different. This happens because different degrees of compatibility between the personalities of humans and individual animals reveal themselves. People who have spent a lot of time with animals know well the individuality of animals, the patterns of their behavior and perceive them as individuals, with individual characteristics character and psyche.
The issue of animal protection and attitude towards animals is faced by every person. Close interaction with animals can be traced back tens of thousands of years. Animals not only serve humans, carrying out his commands, but also help in all spheres of life: science, medicine, psychology, pedagogy.
A person’s attitude towards animals is instilled in the process of moral education in the family, school, and the environment that raises the child.
Humane treatment of animals allows one to develop such qualities as kindness, sincerity, friendliness, compassion and mercy.
In Eastern philosophy, the relation of man to animals was equated with the relation of people to each other, since the axiom of the transmigration of souls was accepted in philosophy. Each person, living his life, prepares with his actions an embodiment for the next life.
In the Philosophy of Ancient Greece, Aristotle and Pythagoras noted the role of moral education, and the attitude of man towards animals was regarded as a virtue. In Biblical parables and commandments, animals come in second place, and were created to serve man. But it is worth noting that he is a reasonable and moral person who knows how to love, forgive and live in harmony with the world around him.
During the Middle Ages, the thinker R. Descartes and F. Aquinas determined that only man has consciousness and soul, and therefore only man is capable of thinking and creating new things. The importance of animal conservation was determined by the beginning of the twentieth century, since the Black Book of Extinct Animals could be replenished with Arctic dogs and arctic foxes suffering due to pollution in the Arctic Ocean. Constant emissions of freons due to industrial activities lead to the accumulation of poisons in the body, which affects the reproduction of animals.
With the development of technological progress, the role of animals grows into servants not of man, but of science. Conducted experiments with the participation of animals, the development of a tourist destination using hunting for wild animals have led to the disappearance and reduction of populations of monkeys, roe deer, and giraffes. Therefore, at present, humanity is faced with the task of preserving existing animal species and creating favorable flora for them.
Caring for animals and protecting animals begins with respectful personal attitude towards pets, as well as the transfer of enterprises to environmental standards that do not pollute the environment. It is the preservation of the planet and the protection of all species of animals that is entrusted to a person who has consciousness and soul.
The task of moral education is the formation of an ethical person. As stated above, ethics is understood as responsibility towards others in the broadest sense. But a person can feel responsible for others and act in their interests only if he is capable of empathy and perception of other people's pain. That's why moral education First of all, the task should be to develop mercy, kindness, and the ability to compassion in a child. In practice, this comes down to creating situations where the child acts as a person performing an act of mercy, when he receives satisfaction from the fact that he really helped someone.
For small child Only an animal can be such a weak one, in need of his good deed.
The adults around the child are to such an extent stronger than a child that any situation where a child “provides help” to an adult suffers from deliberateness. 
Unlike an adult, for a child contacts with animals are much more important, because their levels of perception of the world are closer, the behavior of both also bears similarities; in addition, the child vividly learns about the world and even such simple creatures as insects and other invertebrates are of interest to him. 
A child empathizes more easily, that is, he looks at the world through the eyes of another being, and therefore it is much easier for him to empathize with another being. It is known that children are more responsive to animals and experience what happens to animals more acutely.
For children, a cruel act towards an animal is perceived as a difficult drama; Parents' cruelty to animals sometimes caused the child's alienation from his parents and hostility towards them. 
Consequently, the attitude of children towards animals is the area of the child’s activity where moral education can be most successfully carried out. In addition to the direct goal: fostering a kind attitude towards animals, respect for their lives, another goal is also achieved - the formation moral person generally. Mercy, kindness, responsiveness are character traits that are basic characteristics of personality and are integral to it. If a person has learned to empathize with another creature - even if it is an animal - he will also sympathize with someone else's pain if a person suffers.
Now it becomes obvious that a person’s relationship with the outside world must comply with the principles of Schweitzer’s universal ethics - a person must respect all living things. This is the principle of biocentrism, and if a child develops a biocentric worldview, society also benefits: a biocentric worldview presupposes respect for the interests of all living things, both people and animals. 
Ways to develop an ethical attitude towards animals
A child’s ethical attitude towards animals should begin to develop in the family from the first years of the child’s life. The main educational factor is the example of parents and other adults surrounding the child. Kind treatment of pets: the exclusion of rough treatment of them, causing them pain, instilling fear - should become the norm for children to treat animals. Adults must take the needs of animals seriously, satisfy not only their needs for food, water, exercise, but also for communication; animals may suffer from loneliness, inactivity, and boredom. From the behavior of adults, the child must learn that animals are also members of the family, that their needs are important, that they can feel and understand their surroundings to a great extent, just like people. A child can understand when adults feel responsible for the fate of an animal, for its mental and physical state, – and it becomes the norm for the child to remember the interests of the animal. It’s not just the handling of pets that can be educational for a child; Adults should always comment on the behavior or condition of animals that the child observes in nature. An adult must talk about the life of an animal: an ant, a worm, a beetle, a caterpillar, a crow, a sparrow; show how everyone’s behavior is meaningful; note the intelligence of the crow and sparrow, the fruitful work of the ant, talk about the future miraculous transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly; indicate the inadmissibility of causing them pain or killing them. The child should feel in the words of an adult his respect for the life of these creatures, admiration for their harmonious fusion with nature, their aesthetic appearance.
An ethical attitude towards animals continues to develop in a child at school. A new textbook for the school, “Bioethics at School,” has now been prepared, which should be used in natural history and biology lessons. 
Considering the methodology for forming an ethical attitude of students towards the world around them in natural history and biology lessons, we can highlight the following three principles.
Principle one. The formation of a child’s ethical attitude towards others occurs through influencing the child’s emotions - “the path through the heart.” The choice of this path is dictated by the age characteristics of students, who perceive emotional information more acutely than rational information; although in each case emotions are supported by rational arguments. But the latter should not form the basis of this training program. Referring to the “benefit” of the animal should especially be avoided. This kind of motive has nothing to do with the ethics of relationships between humans and animals. Positive emotions in a child can be formed if the independent value of an animal is revealed to him, his ability to feel pain and joy, the ability to think; if you point out the beauty of the animal, the high organization of its behavior, the complexity of emotions and rational activity.
Principle two. The principle of influencing the emotions of a child and adolescent dictates the need to also use the principle of activity, that is, personal interest in the fate of the animal, personal participation in the fate of the animal, in various forms; collecting information about it, activities that benefit the animal, discussions regarding issues of attitude towards the animal. Students in class and while doing extracurricular activities discuss problems related to the life of animals, help animals, watch them, read about them, write essays, draw animals, play role-playing games, imagining yourself in the place of the animal.
Principle three. Formation of an ethical personality of a teacher. The most important educational factor in the implementation of this program is the personality of the teacher. Only his sincere interest in the topic and kind attitude towards animals will convince children of the seriousness of what he is telling. A formal approach to implementing an ethics education program leads to a waste of time.
Biology teacher in high school is designed to form in students a new attitude towards the world around them, to teach them not just a subject, facts about different types animals, but ethics, positive emotions, a new philosophy of attitude towards the world around us. New requirements for teaching biology require not so much other textbooks as a methodology for conducting classes, an atmosphere created around facts by the teacher, and a new personality of the teacher. Therefore, training teachers to teach a bioethics course in biology involves not only mastering a new approach to presenting the material, but the most important moment is the formation of a positive attitude of the teacher himself towards the subject of bioethics, positive emotions towards various types living forms.
Observation of animals by children and adolescents implies the presence of any objects of observation or activity of the child. A few caveats need to be made here. The opinion of some teachers that it is useful for children to observe animals kept in a living area at school is, in principle, incorrect. One aspect of organizing living areas is the lack of full-time staff to care for animals, good premises, which leads to keeping animals in unacceptably poor conditions; Problems arise in caring for animals during the holidays. The living area becomes a school of cruelty towards animals, callous and irresponsible attitude towards them. But even if, through the efforts of teachers and school staff, the living corner is kept in good condition, the responsibilities of children and adults in caring for animals are clearly defined, even in this case, the living corner accustoms children to the idea that it is ethical to deprive an animal of its freedom, to imprison him to a prison, albeit a well-appointed one, for the amusement of a person. If an animal's desire for freedom does not matter, then why should other needs matter to a person? And we return again to the idea of permissiveness on the part of man in relation to animals. Therefore, it is better to recommend that the child observe domestic animals that do not sit in cages, but live in a room with a person, or next to his house, and observe wild animals: birds, insects, etc. - in their free state.
There is another incorrect opinion about how to educate children to have a kind attitude towards animals - purchasing animals for the child.
A child cannot be responsible for an animal, not only because he does not have money to buy food for the animal, his own home, to keep it, etc. A child can play too much and forget about the animal, leave it hungry, without water, since he had no idea before what a boring task this is. The very idea of giving an animal as an inanimate object is unethical. An animal in the house is a member of the family, and the whole family needs to decide on the purchase of an animal, distributing responsibilities for caring for the animal, and determining their capabilities - to keep the animal until its natural end. The child cannot appreciate the importance of this step, and his opinion about the need to purchase an animal should not be taken into account. An animal that is unnecessary to anyone in the family, a nuisance, is not an object for instilling kind, humane feelings in a child. The desire to buy a “pedigreed” animal for a child denies the ethics of treating an animal; it ceases to be valued for its true qualities - character, natural beauty, and only its cost and “pedigree” are valued. 
An interesting example of the practical use of bioethics principles in secondary school education is an experimental training program in primary school, held in Costa Rica since 1989. The program was funded by animal protection societies - the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (UK), and received support from the Costa Rican government, the country's educational authorities and the teachers themselves. The goal of the program is to educate children to respect all forms of life, each other, and respect for the environment. Since 1992, the program has been used in grades 1-4, more than 12,000 children have been trained in it, and in 1993 - already more than 20,000 children.
A special feature of the program is its interdisciplinarity - the ideas of responsibility towards all forms of life are developed during the study various items. The principle of teaching a bioethical attitude towards the world is the development of positive emotional attitude to other life forms, to animals, and also to other people. The method of forming emotions involves the active behavior of children in the learning process: active collection and discussion of information, personal participation in contacts with the objects being studied; this contributes to the formation of the child’s personal relationship with other beings. The teacher's active participation in student activities and his positive attitude towards all living forms are also prerequisite successful implementation of the program.
The tasks that students complete are aimed at instilling in children compassion for animals and a responsible attitude towards them. Students are given this kind of task: to show that all life on earth is interconnected and all living forms are important. Students are shown a picture where various objects of living and inanimate nature are drawn: the sun, a bird, a cloud with rain, a horse, a flower, a person, etc. Children are asked: “What will happen if plants disappear?”, “What will happen to animals if not will there be water? Then the children are given the task of connecting objects in the picture with lines that are interconnected in their existence.
In order to awaken children's interest in various forms living creatures, they are asked to observe the fauna in nature near a stump or fallen tree trunk and draw a picture on the topic: “Animals that live inside the stump, on it, under it, above it and around it.”
To develop in children a sense of responsibility for nature and compassion for living beings, a discussion is held of pictures depicting a forest fire, hunting, a cut down forest and a squirrel near stumps, treatment with poisons and a dead animal. Children are asked to tell what people were doing before the situation shown occurred.
Student activities involve excursions, observations (independent), students write essays, play role-playing games, draw, conduct discussions, and solve problems.
The pilot program has proven to be effective. Tests were conducted in 1991 and 1992 to determine changes in children's attitudes toward the environment, animals, and people after completing the program compared to control groups. 81% of students studying in the experimental program showed an ethical attitude towards the environment, animals and environmental literacy. The success of the program was facilitated by the positive attitude of the children's parents towards it, the enthusiasm of the teachers, as well as the well-equipped schools with beautifully designed manuals. Teachers participating in the program received special training.
In Russia also the process is underway humanization of education. Textbooks for secondary and higher schools on bioethics are designed to instill in pupils and students respect for life - for animals, for the natural environment, for humans. This sequence takes into account age characteristics children, when it is easier for a child to show compassion for an animal as the weakest.
It is especially important to develop bioethical thinking among students of veterinary and biological faculties of universities who will work with animals or teach biology.
A new term has the right to exist - veterinary bioethics - the principles of ethical treatment of animals by a veterinary specialist. The system of training veterinary specialists abroad has long been aimed at producing veterinarians imbued with the importance of providing care to animals. In agricultural universities in Russia, the training of veterinarians should help future specialists focus their work on the needs of the animal, to see in them sentient beings with independent value, and not just instruments for satisfying human needs. The veterinarian's focus should remain on the animal.
The training system for biologists should also make it possible to instill in future teachers and researchers respect for any life, understanding of animals and compassion for them. Although the attitude of humanity as a whole towards animals does not in many ways correspond to the principles of ethics and bioethics, every contribution to strengthening bioethical views brings closer the time of their complete victory. It is veterinary specialists and biologists who must show the way to the humanization of human-animal relations.
T.N. Pavlova,
Bioethics in higher education
taken from the site http://www.vita.org.ru/educat/gumanotnosh.htm
