ABSTRACT
Before we turn to contemporary arguments, it is worth considering two historical contributions which specifically examine how the law should treat animals. In the final work of his life, Laws, Plato created a picture of his Utopian State, which was to be called Magnesia. He was a great believer in government closely linked to philosophy, and within his ideas it appears that animals may have been viewed as being morally culpable and to be held responsible within the criminal law:1 ‘If a beast of burden or any other animal kills anyone (except when the incident occurs while they are competing in one of the public contests) the relatives must prosecute the killer for murder; the next of kin must appoint some Country Wardens, and they must try the case; if the animal is found guilty, they must kill it and throw it out beyond the frontiers of the country.’2 Moral culpability of animals certainly seems to run contrary to modern consensus and it is doubtful whether there is any contemporary philosophical or scientific support.
