> The essence of the matter is that there is no high-level principle involved - humans get special treatment because humans write the law.
“The purpose of law is to advance the collective interests of humans in a society” is, I would argue, a high-level principal, and (with variations as to whether it applies to all humans or some subset, and which interests are considered privileged relative to others) nearly universal. Yes, the fact that humans are writing the laws is a reason that principle is chosen, but the idea that there are not high-level principle is just false.
“The purpose of law is to advance the collective interests of humans in a society” is, I would argue, a high-level principal, and (with variations as to whether it applies to all humans or some subset, and which interests are considered privileged relative to others) nearly universal. Yes, the fact that humans are writing the laws is a reason that principle is chosen, but the idea that there are not high-level principle is just false.