Gottes Werk und Fleisches Lust

From a Christian perspective, it cannot be reasonable for us in our time and society to inflict pain, suffering and harm on animals to an unprecedented extent. Instead, they should be respected as fellow creatures and beings of dignity. Anne Käfer puts forward this thesis on the basis of the Protestant understanding of creation. The author discusses questions of animal ethics in a debate with influential theological and relevant philosophical positions such as those of I. Kant, P. Singer and M. C. Nussbaum. In a richly argued and easy-to-understand manner, she explains how challenging it is for humans to deal appropriately with the animals they keep as livestock, pets or laboratory animals.