ABSTRACT

Bullfighting has a strong historical tradition in Spain, but now it is beginning to be challenged by various sectors in society. The debate about the ethics of bullfighting is by no means new. But, perhaps because of its continuous decline in popularity, and as a result of emerging political circumstances in Spain (particularly in Catalonia), some public intellectuals have attempted a new defence of bullfighting, renewing an ethical discussion that seemed to be over. In this article, I review one particular type of argument that is sometimes used as a defence of bullfighting: the appeal to culture and tradition. I conclude that most of these arguments rely on questionable assumptions and faulty reasoning, and consequently, bullfighting remains ethically indefensible. Yet, I point out that human nature appears to crave for violent entertainment, and we will need to find ethical ways to deal with that.

摘要

斗牛在西班牙有着悠久的历史传统，但现​​在它开始受到社会各界的挑战。关于斗牛伦理的争论并不新鲜。但是，也许是因为它的受欢迎程度不断下降，并且由于西班牙（尤其是加泰罗尼亚）新出现的政治形势，一些公共知识分子试图对斗牛进行新的辩护，重新开始一场似乎已经结束的伦理讨论。在这篇文章中，我回顾了一种有时被用来为斗牛辩护的特殊类型的论点：对文化和传统的诉求。我的结论是，这些论点中的大多数都依赖于有问题的假设和错误的推理，因此，斗牛在道德上仍然站不住脚。然而，我指出人性似乎渴望暴力娱乐，