Abstract
Bullfighting has been recently accepted as Cultural Heritage by the Spanish Government. There is a current initiative to declare bullfighting as Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and include it in the UNESCO list. The proponents of such initiatives contend that bullfighting should be protected and promoted on the grounds that it is an artistic activity, part of the national culture. In this chapter, I discuss the moral arguments and legal aspects that can be pitted against such a cruel practice. More specifically, I will examine the serious obstacles to the legal protection of such practices, which cause suffering and aim at killing nonhuman animals based on cultural or artistic reasons.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
During the reigns of Carlos III and Carlos IV, bullfights were banned in 1771 and 1805. The practice was restored by Fernando VII in the nineteenth century. See J. Mosterín, A favor de los toros (Pamplona: Laetoli, 2010), 31, 35.
- 2.
The abolition of bullfighting in Catalonia was passed by the Catalan Parliament on July 28, 2010, through a legislative initiative originated by the proponents of the group Prou! which secured the prohibition of bullfighting. The vote was sixty-eight votes in favor of the prohibition, fifty-five against, and nine abstentions.
- 3.
G. Ortiz Millán, “Ética para Matador: Savater, los toros y la ética,” Tópicos, Revista de Filosofía 46 (2014): 206.
- 4.
The toro (“bull”) de lidia refers to male bovines of a heterogeneous population developed, selected, and bred for use in different bullfights, festivities, and running of the bulls. They come from breeds of the Iberian peninsula. See R. Barga, El toro de lidia (Madrid: Alianza, 1995).
- 5.
Mosterín, A favor de los toros, 96–100.
- 6.
Ibid., 75, 96. In order to examine what practices are carried out during bullfights, see Mosterín, A favor de los toros, 37–43, and Ortiz Millán, “Ética para Matador,” 216–17. Both authors describe what events occur during the whole bullfight.
- 7.
F. Savater, Tauroética (Madrid: Turpial, 2011), 34.
- 8.
Ibid., 19, 29.
- 9.
P. Singer, Animal Liberation (New York: Avon Books, 1975).
- 10.
Savater, Tauroética, 25.
- 11.
Ibid., 26.
- 12.
Ibid., 29.
- 13.
Ibid., 67–68.
- 14.
Ibid., 54.
- 15.
J. L. Díaz, “El sufrimiento de los toros,” El País, August 1, 2010; M. S. Dawkins, “Scientific Basis for Assessing Suffering in Animals,” in In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave, ed. P. Singer (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006), 26–39.
- 16.
Díaz, “El sufrimiento de los toros.”
- 17.
D. Davidson, “Rational Animals,” in Actions and Events: Perspectives on the Philosophy of Donald Davidson, ed. E. Lenore and B. McLaughlin (Oxford: Blackwell, 1985), 473, 476.
- 18.
D. Davidson, “Actions, Reasons and Causes,” Journal of Philosophy 60 (1963); D. Davidson, “Thought and Talk,” in Mind and Language, ed. S. Guttenplan (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974), 7–23; Davidson, “Rational Animals.”
- 19.
Singer, Animal Liberation; D. DeGrazia, Taking Animals Seriously (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996); R. Sorabji, Animal Minds and Human Morals: The Debate in the Western Tradition (London: Gerald Duckworth, 1993); R. Sorabji, “Animal Minds,” Southern Journal of Philosophy 31, supplement (1993): 1–19; M. Bekoff, The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy—and Why They Matter (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2008).
- 20.
Savater, Tauroética, 26.
- 21.
Aristotle, Acerca de la generación y la corrupción: Tratados breves de historia natural (Madrid: Gredos, 1987), 433b, 27–30.
- 22.
Mosterín, A favor de los toros, 11–16.
- 23.
The “punishment” (castigo) is a taurine figure executed by a picador (a sort of bullfighter’s assistant) that consists in breaking the nerves of the neck of the bull with a lance so that the bull loses control over his head. See Mosterín, A favor de los toros, 38.
- 24.
Savater, Tauroética, 67–68.
- 25.
Savater, Tauroética, 66–67; Mosterín, A favor de los toros, 27.
- 26.
M. C. Nussbaum, The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986); Pedro Talavera, Derecho y literatura: El reflejo de lo jurídico (Granada: Comares, 2006), 94–95.
- 27.
Ortiz Millán, “Ética para Matador,” 208.
- 28.
A Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC) is a category of the Spanish heritage register aimed at preserving and promoting Spanish cultural property, which comprises both material and intangible national heritage.
- 29.
The Canary Islands banned bullfighting in 1991.
- 30.
UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, October 17, 2003, Article 2.1.
- 31.
Ibid.
- 32.
According to the “Cultural Habits and Practices Survey” published by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, during 2010–11, 76% oppose use of public funds to support the bullfighting industry.
Bibliography
Aristotle. Acerca de la generación y la corrupción: Tratados breves de historia natural. Madrid: Gredos, 1987.
Barga, R. El toro de lidia. Madrid: Alianza, 1995.
Bekoff, M. The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy—and Why They Matter. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2008.
Cultural Statistics Division, Ministry of Culture of Spain. Survey on Cultural Habits and Practices in Spain 2010–2011. Edited by Secretaría General Técnica. Subdirección General de Publicaciones, Información y Documentación. NIPO: 551-11- 109-09. September 2011.
Davidson, D. “Actions, Reasons and Causes.” Journal of Philosophy 60 (1963): 685–700.
———. “Rational Animals.” In Actions and Events: Perspectives on the Philosophy of Donald Davidson, edited by E. Lenore and B. McLaughlin, 473–80. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985.
———. “Thought and Talk.” In Mind and Language, edited by S. Guttenplan, 7–23. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974.
Dawkins, M. S. “Scientific Basis for Assessing Suffering in Animals.” In In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave, edited by P. Singer, 26–39. Oxford: Blackwell.
DeGrazia, D. Taking Animals Seriously. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Díaz, J. L. “El sufrimiento de los toros.” El País, August 1, 2010.
Llorente, R. “Tauroética de Fernando Savater: Una aproximación ética.” Diánoia 57, no. 69 (2012): 171–84.
Mosterín, J. A favor de los toros. Pamplona: Laetoli, 2010.
Nussbaum, Martha C. The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
———. Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2013.
———. Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Ortiz Millán, G. “Ética para Matador: Savater, los toros y la ética.” Tópicos, Revista de Filosofía 46 (2014): 205–36.
Regan, T. The Case for Animal Rights. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
Savater, F. “El torero como héroe.” In La tarea del héroe, 242–47. Madrid: Taurus, 1981.
———. Tauroética. Madrid: Turpial, 2011.
Singer, P. Animal Liberation. New York: Avon Books, 1975.
Sorabji, R. “Animal Minds.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 31, supplement (1993): 1–19.
———. Animal Minds and Human Morals: The Debate in the Western Tradition. London: Gerald Duckworth, 1993.
Talavera, P. Derecho y literatura: El reflejo de lo jurídico. Granada: Comares, 2006.
UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, October 17, 2003.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
de Tienda Palop, L. (2018). Bullfighting: The Legal Protection of Suffering. In: Linzey, A., Linzey, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Practical Animal Ethics. The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-36671-9_29
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-36671-9_29
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-36670-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-36671-9
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)