Subjugated Animals: Animals And Anthropocentrism In Early Modern European Culture (gateway Bookshelf)

This book is a study of attitudes toward animals in early modern Western culture. Emphasizing the influence of anthropocentrism on attitudes toward animals, historian Nathaniel Wolloch traces the various ways in which animals were viewed, from predominantly anti-animal thinking to increasingly pro-animal sentiments and viewpoints. Wolloch devotes a chapter each to six major themes: early modern philosophical perspectives on animals till the end of the seventeenth century, pro-animal opinions in the eighteenth-century, the connection between attitudes toward animals and the early modern debate about the existence of extraterrestrial life, scientific modes of discussing animals, the role of animals in early modern anthropomorphic literature, and depictions of animals in seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish painting. He concludes his broad, interdisciplinary study by linking these historical trends to the modern discussion of animal rights and ecological issues. "In Subjugated Animals Nathaniel Wolloch explores key issues in the history of the human attitude toward the animal world. The discussion centers on early modern European culture, and unlike most studies of this topic, Wolloch does not confine himself to one particular type of source, but examines a wide variety of different materials, philosophical, scientific, literary and artistic. The result is an inherently multi-disciplinary study which presents a comprehensive picture of the early modern cultural appreciation of animals. In particular, Wolloch emphasizes the anthropocentric ethic as the predominant influence on the development of the Western consideration of animals. Employing a seemingly simple terminology defining attitudes toward animals as either "pro-" or "anti-animal," he demonstrates that in fact reality was much more complex, and even most seemingly sympathetic considerations of animals were pervaded by an anthropocentric ethic." "Beginning with a short survey of ancient and medieval attitudes toward animals, Wolloch proceeds to discuss seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophical debates about their physical and mental characteristics, and the possibility of moral duties to-ward them. He then examines the connection between this philosophical literature and the early modern debate about the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. Next come discussions of attitudes toward animals in science, anthropomorphic literature, and painting. Wolloch concludes by connecting this historical study to the present-day public debate regarding the human interaction with animals and nature. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET Nathaniel Wolloch. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 245-276) And Index.