Abstract

The essay presents a historical profile of the relationship between man and non-human animals. The author analyzes in particular the influence that, at the end of the Eighteenth century, the birth of the concept of «human rights» had on the legal and ethical status of animals. After having mapped the development of the theme in the last two centuries, the essay tries to draw some conclusions, highlighting the difficulties of both an approach that wants to establish the «rights» of animals and an approach that, on a utilitarian basis, aims to evaluate only the psychic state of an individual beyond its species and its psychological and neurological endowment.