The aesthetic appreciation of animals. Aesthetic and ethical considerations.

Abstract

Watching animals produces in most people an experience of joy, well-being and calm. Many of us appreciate animals aesthetically: we admire mammals for their beauty, we enjoy the elegance of a flying eagle, blackbirds singing, cheetah running, the fervor or autumnal rutting, the mysterious appearance of crocodiles, the strange forms of some amphibian, the infinite variety of insects, light reflected in fishes schooling. The different animal species, being so diverse in forms, colors, movements and sounds, stimulate our senses and awake our imagination. We also admire them because they are living beings, and we enjoy watching them living their lives, acting, playing, behaving with one another, expressing different emotions, and even reacting to our gaze. Sometimes, however, our desires to ensure us the access to them, ends with these animals losing their freedom. Here emerges an ethical difficult problem we should address.