About the Lecture
Much has been written about animal rights in the four decades that followed the publication of Peter Singer's classic monograph, Animal Liberation (1975). Several studies have examined - often in passing - that biblical texts can contribute to animal rights debates. However, this work is almost exclusively done by non-specialists. In my lecture, I begin to address this lack of professional scholarship on this subject by exploring what four biblical laws - Exodus 23: 10-11, 12; Lev 25: 2-7 and Deut 5: 12-15 - might suggest on the legal status of animals. US law professor Gary L. Francione says that we normally use the term "rights" to describe a type of protection that does not disappear in the face of the competing claims of others. I will then examine whether the four biblical laws in question meet this standard.