ANIMALS AS AGENTS IN AHIMSA ACTION AND SPIRITUAL LIFE

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Abstract

There is ecology and there is deep ecology. Deep ecology is closely related to cosmo-ethics. Implicit cosmo-ethical attitudes are reflected in our present-day, wide-spread concern to include the animal kingdom as a whole in the realms of our ethical conduct, which sometimes even takes the shape of support for "animal rights." The concept of animal rights imply the presence of moral and spiritual capacities in animals, however hidden that may be from human eyes. The implicit thesis of this article is precisely that, animals too have moral and spiritual capacities, a fact deeply perceived by parts of the Indian tradition.