![]() For example, his theory defends raising and killing animals for food-something we cannot fathom how torturous and painful it must be for the animals-to satiate one person who, in most situations, has other things to eat. Bentham is the first philosopher recorded to state that an animals’ sentience alone makes them worthy of being spared unnecessary pain, believing their rationality or intelligence to be irrelevant–unlike Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes.īentham’s utilitarianism still deems the feelings of one nonhuman animal being worth far less than that of one human, therefore prioritising human welfare. Bentham famously applied this to animals when he declared, in An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, ‘he question is not Can they reason? or Can they talk? but Can they suffer?’ (Bentham, 2017, pgs. His utilitarianism seeks the ‘greatest happiness’ and views actions as morally right when they produce the ‘most good’ or pleasure, as opposed to pain (Bentham, 2017). Jeremy Bentham (born 1748) is known as the originator of classical utilitarianism in modern philosophy. Utilitarian thinker Jeremy Bentham would emerge a century later, changing the debate significantly. While Descartes’ comments are currently viewed as being preposterous, knowing the scientific consensus today on animal sentience, he did manage to resume the debate after nearly a millennium of dormancy. Enlightenment thinker Voltaire (born 1694), outraged by Descartes’ position, posed this to the other philosopher: “Answer me, mechanist, has Nature arranged all the springs of feeling in this animal to the end that he might not feel?” (Voltaire, 1824, pg. It must have made it easier for the philosopher to justify this practice by comforting himself in the assertion that his subjects were unfeeling and unconscious during his experiments, merely squirming due to reflexes. He is credited for popularising this practice throughout Europe. While it may appear shocking that a philosopher of such high esteem would hold these views, it aligns directly with his practice of vivisection–the dissection of live animals. Whatever intelligence, whatever pain we may seem to see cannot exist in creatures bereft of understanding and feeling” (Descartes quoted in Walters & Portmess, 1999, pg. He put it, “e have no duties to animals we have no need for conscience. He compared their functioning to that of a clock–brute matter. It would only return in the 17th century due to the backlash formed over comments made by Enlightenment thinker René Descartes.ĭescartes declared that animals do not feel and simply act as machines, or automata (Tauber, 2020 Singer, 1991, Regan, 1983). Stoic philosopher Seneca (born circa 1 BCE) is also known to have advocated for humane, vegetarian lifestyles (Wise, 2000 Walters & Portmess, 1999).ĭespite calls by some ancient philosophers to consider animal sentience, Plato’s distinction between rational man and the ‘irrational animal’ took precedence and became the dominant way of thought, leading to nearly a millennium of dormancy in the animal sentience debate. Roman essayist Plutarch (born circa 46 CE), in his essay ‘On the Eating of Animal Flesh’, similarly proclaimed ‘animals possess characteristics such as intelligence and sentience that entitle them to moral consideration’ (Plutarch quoted in Walters & Portmess, 1999, pg. He asserted that animals do possess reason humans are simply unable to understand their language to comprehend it. ![]() There were philosophers from Antiquity who did follow Pythagoras’ approach towards animals, notably Porphyry (born circa 234 CE), who wrote On Abstinence from Eating Food from Animals. ![]() By focusing on humans and proclaiming their distinct rationality, Plato and Aristotle justified animal exploitation. Plato (born circa 428 BCE) and Aristotle (born circa 384 BCE), whose philosophies are largely based on human logic and reason, found animals to be without reason or speech, making them useless unless used and controlled by rational men (Aygün, 2017 Walters & Portmess, 1999). Unfortunately for Pythagoras and the animals, not everyone who studied his work agreed with his stance on animals. He encouraged those who followed him to treat all animals with respect. In Kerry Walters and Lisa Portmess’ book, Ethical Vegetarianism: From Pythagoras to Peter Singer (1999), the two note that Pythagoras once said, ‘humans must regard all living things as kindred and bestowed on them equal moral consideration’ (pg. Pythagoras (born circa 569 BCE), the renowned Greek philosopher and mathematician, is the first known ethical vegetarian and animal advocate. Concern for animal suffering can be found in works by ancient Greek and Roman philosophers.
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