Do animal rights exist according to the Hebrew Bible ?

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

Saul Olyan is invited by the Collège de France assembly, at the suggestion of Prof. Thomas Römer.