In the late nineteenth century, a number of prominent reformers wereinfluenced by what Edward Carpenter called the largersocialism. They would not only address the bread andcheese concerns of orthodox socialism, they intended tocompletely transform society, including the place of animals withinit. To open a window on late Victorian ideas about animals, Rod Preeceexplores what he calls radical idealism and animal sensibility in thework of George Bernard Shaw, the acknowledged prophet of modernism andconscience of his age. Preece examines Shaw's reformist thought-- particularly the notion of inclusive justice, which aimed toeliminate the suffering of both humans and animals -- in relation tothat of fellow reformers such as Howard Williams, Edward Carpenter, Annie Besant, Anna Kingsford, and Henry Salt and the HumanitarianLeague. Shaw's philosophy of Creative Evolution, Preece argues, was a dimension of socialist thought in response to Darwinism. Preece's fascinating account of the characters and crusades thatshaped Shaw's philosophy sheds new light not only on modernistthought but also on an overlooked aspect of the history of the animalrights movement.Rod Preece is professor emeritus at Wilfrid LaurierUniversity and is the author of a number of books, including BruteSouls, Happy Beasts, and Evolution and Sins of the Flesh.
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In search of insight into late Victorian ideas about animals and the animal rights movement, Rod Preece explores animal sensibility in the work of George Bernard Shaw. Shaw's reformist thought-particularly what Preece calls inclusive justice, which aimed to eliminate the suffering of both humans and animals-emerges in relation to that of fellow reformers such as Edward Carpenter, Annie Besant, and Henry Salt. This fascinating account of the characters and crusades that shaped Shaw's philosophy sheds new light not only on modernist thought but also on the relationship between historical socialism and the ethical treatment of animals.
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• Introduction: Bill of Fare to the Feast: The Whats and Whys ofVegetarianism
• 1: The Human in Prehistory
• 2: Eastern Religions and Practice
• 3: Pythagoreanism
• 4: Greek Philosophy and Roman Imperium
• 5: Judaism and The Earlier Christian Heritage
• 6: Bogomils, Cathars, and the Later Medieval Mind
• 7: The Humanism of the Renaissance
• 8: The Cartesians and their Adversaries in the Seventeenth andEighteenth Centuries
• 9: Preaching without Practising: From Mandeville and Pope to Goldsmithand Wagner
• 10: Militant Advocates: From Oswald and Ritson to Shelley, Phillips, and Gompertz
• 11: The Victorians, the Edwardians, and the Founding of the VegetarianSociety
• 12: Vegetarians and Vegans in the Twentieth Century
• 13: Vegetarianism in North America Postscript: Prospects.
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Sins of the Flesh is a ground-breaking history of ethicalvegetarianism that will appeal to all readers concerned withhuman-animal relations and the foundations of animal rights.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction: Bill of Fare to the Feast: The Whats and Whys ofVegetarianism
• 1: The Human in Prehistory
• 2: Eastern Religions and Practice
• 3: Pythagoreanism
• 4: Greek Philosophy and Roman Imperium
• 5: Judaism and The Earlier Christian Heritage
• 6: Bogomils, Cathars, and the Later Medieval Mind
• 7: The Humanism of the Renaissance
• 8: The Cartesians and their Adversaries in the Seventeenth andEighteenth Centuries
• 9: Preaching without Practising: From Mandeville and Pope to Goldsmithand Wagner
• 10: Militant Advocates: From Oswald and Ritson to Shelley, Phillips, and Gompertz
• 11: The Victorians, the Edwardians, and the Founding of the VegetarianSociety
• 12: Vegetarians and Vegans in the Twentieth Century
• 13: Vegetarianism in North America Postscript: Prospects.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Sins of the Flesh is a ground-breaking history of ethicalvegetarianism that will appeal to all readers concerned withhuman-animal relations and the foundations of animal rights.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

In this provocative inquiry into the status of animals in human society from the fifth century BC to the present, Rod Preece provides a wholly new perspective on the human-animal relationship. Brute Souls, Happy Beasts, and Evolution traces the historical status of animals in western civilization, and shows that current scholarship in this area is seriously deficient. Preece particularly contests the customary claims: that the Christian doctrine has denied immortality to animals, with the corresponding implication that they were thereby denied ethical consideration; that there was a near universal belief animals were intended for human use, with the corresponding implication that they were not ends in themselves, and were thus not entitled to ethical consideration; that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution had a profoundly positive impact on the way in which nonhuman animals were regarded and treated; and that the idea of the "happy beast" was merely a trope to condemn humans for their hubris and was not at all a sincere attempt to raise the status of animals. Rod Preece believes that our ethical responsibilities to animals are ill served by the current simplistic and misleading conception of the historical record, and with this book, attempts a significant re-thinking of the human-animal perspective. Brute Souls, Happy Beasts, and Evolution will be required reading for those from animal scientists to animal philosophers to animal rights activists who have an interest in the history and philosophy of animal ethics. In contrast to prevailing intellectual opinion, Preece argues that a significant number of early Christians were vegetarian; that control of nature was often undertaken not at the expense of animals but, in part, out of exasperation at their tribulations; that the Cartesian conception of animals as automata was largely rejected, especially in the English-speaking world; that Darwin's theory of natural selection had no appreciable influence on the status of animals; and, finally, that "theriophily" - the notion of animal superiority over humans - was given greater credence than is commonly recognized.
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This study takes issue with the popular view that the Western cultural tradition encourages domination and exploitation towards nature, particularly animals. It concludes that Western, Oriental and Aboriginal people have much to learn from one another about interacting with the natural world.
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As the most populous province in Canada, Ontario is a microcosm of the animal welfare issues which beset Western civilization. The authors of this book, chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, find themselves constantly being made aware of the atrocities committed in the Society's jurisdiction. They have been, in turn, puzzled, exasperated and horrified at humanity's cruelty to our fellow sentient beings. The issues discussed in this book are the most contentious in animal welfare disputes -- animal experimentation, fur-farming and trapping, the use of animals for human entertainment and the conditions under which animals are raised for human consumption. They are complex issues and should be thought about fairly and seriously. The authors, standing squarely on the side of the animals, suggest "community" and "belonging" as concepts through which to understand our relationships to other species. They ground their ideas in Wordsworth's "primal sympathy" and Jung's "unconscious identity" with the animal realm. The philosophy developed in this book embraces common sense and compromise as the surest paths to the goal of animal welfare. It requires respect and consideration for other species while acknowledging our primary obligations to our fellow humans.
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In our modern world, where human will routinely presides over the natural world, it is easy to imagine that sensibility to animals has been merely a matter of peripheral concern in human history. Rod Preece, in this impressively researched volume, demonstrates that, on the contrary, respect for animals has always been a part of human consciousness. Awe for the Tiger, Love for the Lamb brings together the most significant statements of sensibility to animals in the history of thought. Each chapter begins with an introduction that explains the significance of the passages, and relates them to each other culturally, historically, and philosophically. Myth, religion, literature, philosophy, and parliamentary debates are all represented in this compendium whose time frame stretches from the early days of recorded human history to the beginning of the twentieth century. This unique book will be welcomed by scholars interested in animal studies and the history of ideas, as well as those with a concern for animal life.
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This work aims to contribute to the development of Enlightenment values concerning our responsibilites toward nature and other species. Preece's introduction offers an analysis of the historical context of Nicholson's thought, its relationship to previous and contemporary literature, and its influence. Preece's notes offer an elucidation of Nicholson's references, quotations and commentary. This examination of Nicholson's work, in conjunction with Preece's introduction and notes, allows the modern reader an insight into the ideas that occasioned the early 19th-century animal welfare legislation that promoted and protected the interests of non-human species.
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The Interdisciplinary Research Seminar, developed by Professor Nicolas A. Nyiri of the Political Science Department, was initiated three years ago. The purpose has been to encourage and foster interdisciplinary research papers and colloquia which are now being published under the editorship of Professor N.A. Nyiri and Dr. Rod Preece. Contributors have been drawn from several centres and it is planned to expand the sources of papers in the future. The work that has been accomplished has served to bring scholars from diverse fields together and to encourage others to share in the exploration and expansion of critical thinking in a number of areas. It is expected that the publication of the first volume will open the way to an ever-widening interest in this core area of a university's life: critical thinking and dissemination of the knowledge gained. a From the foreword by Dr. Neale Tayler, Vice-President Academic, Wilfrid Laurier University.
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