The Non-Human Person: The Breakdown of the Traditional Conception of Personhood in Law or the Starting Point for Animal Rights as Legal Subjects?

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to delve into the little-known term non-human person and determine whether its content means the starting point for the rights of animals as subjects or, on the contrary, a deconstruction of the traditional concept of person, on which the high walls of the law have been erected which focus their attention on the human being as the unit of imputation of their legal norms. In order to do so, it is necessary to go back to the origins of the concept of person and transfer it to the present day, observing whether its figure is transformed under the magnifying glass of a different vision than the anthropocentric one, which can apply the rights, faculties and obligations that turn a legal person into a non-human animal.    Keywords: concept of person, non-human person, subjects of rights, animal rights, non-human animals.