Perception expansion: A jurisprudential analysis of right to life of whales Ansingkar Dipali G., Advocate, Ansingkar Shardul G., Advocate Abstract Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth. God created humankind in his own image ”3 As described above, the unknown author of Genesis portrayed Human beings as created in God’s own image and thereby granting them the status of rulers over Non-humans. This verse of the genesis helped fuel the timeless attempt of Human beings to draw a sharp divide between ourselves and other animals. Even after Darwin had established the continuities between ourselves and other apes, we have tried to cling to the idea that there is something quite unique to human beings, some way in which we differ, not only in degree, but also in kind, from animals.4 The denial that other persons-outsiders, minority groups-as well as other animals, have a consciousness equivalent to our own and rights as our own is justified on the basis ofpseudo-rationalization that the victims are less than human which has been the foundational philosophy for genocide and enslavement. Such denial of extension of humanity to minority or defenseless groups such as whales is the clearestform of inhumanity.5 This paper is divided in 8 parts. In the first six parts, I discuss the jurisprudential attitude towards extending right of life to whales. In the seventh part, I establish that recognition of such right is of utmost importance in light of changing international attitude towards whaling and certain normative claims. I end my arguments with a brief conclusion. Top Keywords Jurisprudential, Utilitarianism, Domain, Genocide, Rationalisation. Top |