Abstract

The aim of this article is to outline some of the main works developed in moral philosophy, arguing how they have (or haven’t) dealt with the moral status of non-human animals. To achieve this objective, the paper is divided into three sections. First, I delimit the object of study “animals” and refer to some myths in relation to them. Secondly, I briefly outline the philosophical works of the main currents in moral philosophy. Finally, I introduce, as an alternative to traditional ethics, the postulates developed from the ethics of compassion.