罗马法中非人动物的法律地位

The Legal Status of Non-human Animals in Roman law

人类与其他生灵之间的关系是希腊—罗马哲学中具有争论性的一个话题。对此大致存在两种思潮:一种是亚里士多德式的人类中心主义,排斥非人动物参与人类社会和法律关系的可能;一种是毕达哥拉斯式的生灵共同体思想,承认所有生灵之间的共性进而共有某种法。罗马人在看待非人动物的问题上受第二种思潮影响更大,甚至在一定程度上背离了为社会主流所接受的斯多亚哲学理念。在这样一种文化氛围中,罗马法学家们虽然在有关概念的使用上表现出对非人动物认识的摇摆,但整体上没有放弃基于人和非人动物的相似性而构建生灵命运共同体的努力——自然法概念是其极致表达。基于对“动物性”的重视,罗马法学家构建了某些取决于非人动物的心性和行为的法律制度。

The relationship between humans and other creatures is a controversial topic in Greco-Roman philosophy.There are roughly two trends of thought in this regard:one is Aristotelian anthropocentrism,which rejects the possibility of non-human animals participating in human society and legal relations;the other is Pythagorean thought of community of living beings,which recognizes the commonality between all living beings and shares a certain law.The Romans were more affected by the second trend of thought in regard to the issue of non-human animals,and even deviated to a certain extent from the Stoic philosophy accepted by the mainstream of society.In such a cultural atmosphere,although Roman jurists showed a swaying understanding of non-human animals in the use of related concepts,they did not abandon their efforts to build a community with a shared future for all the creatures based on the similarities between humans and non-human animals.The concept of natural law is its ultimate expression.Based on the emphasis on“animal mature”,Roman jurists constructed certain legal systems that depended on the mind and behavior of non-human animals.