Henry S. Salt
The Logic of Vegetarianism
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Table of contents
THE MORALIST AT THE SHAMBLES.
INTRODUCTORY
WHY "VEGETARIAN"?
THE RAISON D'ÊTRE OF VEGETARIANISM
THE PAST AND PRESENT OFVEGETARIANISM
STRUCTURAL EVIDENCE
THE APPEAL TO NATURE
THE HUMANITARIAN ARGUMENT
PALLIATIONS AND SOPHISTRIES
THE CONSISTENCY TRICK
THE DEGRADATION OF THE BUTCHER
THE ÆSTHETIC ARGUMENT
THE HYGIENIC ARGUMENT
DIGESTION
CONDITIONS OF CLIMATE
FLESH MEAT AND MORALS
THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT
DOUBTS AND DIFFICULTIES
BIBLE AND BEEF
THE FLESH-EATER'S KITH AND KIN
VEGETARIANISM AS RELATED TO OTHER REFORMS
CONCLUSION
FOOTNOTES:
THE MORALIST AT THE SHAMBLES.
Where
slaughter'd beasts lie quivering, pile on pile,And
bare-armed fleshers, bathed in bloody dew,Ply
hard their ghastly trade, and hack and hew,And
mock sweet Mercy's name, yet loathe the whileThe
lot that chains them to this service vile,Their
hands in hideous carnage to imbrue:Lo,
there!—the preacher of the Good and True,The
Moral Man, with sanctimonious smile!"Thrice
happy beasts," he murmurs, "'tis our love,Our
thoughtful love that sends ye to the knife(Nay,
doubt not, as ye welter in your gore!);For
thus alone ye earned the boon of life,And
thus alone the Moralist may proveHis
sympathetic soul—by eating more."
INTRODUCTORY
It
is the special purpose of this book to set forth in a clear and
rational manner the logic of vegetarianism. To the ethical, the
scientific, and the economic aspects of the system much attention has
already been given by well-accredited writers, but there has not as
yet been any organised effort to present the
logical view—that
is, the dialectical scope of the arguments, offensive and defensive,
on which the case for vegetarianism is founded. I am aware that mere
logic is not in itself a matter of first rate importance, and that a
great humane principal, based on true natural instinct, will in the
long run have fulfilment, whatever wordy battles may rage around it
for a time; nevertheless, there is no better method of hastening that
result than to set the issues before the public in a plain and
unmistakable light. I wish, therefore, in this work, to show what
vegetarianism is, and (a scarcely less essential point) what
vegetarianism is
not.For
though, owing to the propaganda carried on for the last fifty years,
there has been an increasing talk of vegetarianism, and a
considerable discussion of its doctrines, there are still very
numerous misunderstandings of its real aims and meaning. In this, as
in other phases of the great progressive movement of which
vegetarianism is a part, to give expression to a new idea is to
excite a host of blind and angry prejudices. The champions of the old
are too disdainful to take counsel with the champions of the new;
hence they commonly attribute to them designs quite different from
those which they really entertain, and unconsciously set up a straw
man for the pleasure of pummelling him with criticism. Devoid always
of a sense of sympathy, and mostly of a sense of humour, they
absurdly exaggerate the least vital points in their adversaries'
reasoning, while they often fail to note what is the very core of the
controversy. It is therefore of great concern to vegetarianism that
its case should be so stated as to preclude all possibility of doubt
as to the real issues involved. If agreement is beyond our reach, let
us at least ascertain the precise point of our disagreement.With
a view to this result, it will be convenient to have recourse now and
then to the form of dialogue, so as to bring into sharper contrast
the pros
and cons
of the argument. Nor will these conversations be altogether
imaginary, for, to avoid any suspicion of burlesquing the
counter-case of our opponents by a fanciful presentment, I shall
introduce only such objections to vegetarianism as have actually been
insisted on—the stock-objections, in fact, which crop up again and
again in all colloquies on food reform—with sometimes the very
words of the flesh-eating disputant. It is not my fault if some of
these objections appear to be foolish. I have often marvelled at the
reckless way in which those who would combat new and unfamiliar
notions step forth to the encounter, unprovided with intellectual
safeguards, and trusting wholly to certain ancient generic fallacies,
which, if we may judge from their appearance in all ages and
climates, are indigenous in the human mind. Many of the difficulties
which the flesh-eater to-day propounds to the vegetarian are the
same, mutatis
mutandis, as those
which have at various times been cast in the teeth of the reformer by
the apologists of every cruel and iniquitous custom, from
slave-holding to the suttee.To
show the unreality of these sophisms, by clearing away the
misconceptions upon which they rest, and to state the creed of
vegetarianism as preached and practised by its friends rather than as
misapprehended by its foes—such is the object of this work. To make
"conversions," in the ordinary sense, is not my concern.
What we have to do is to discover who are flesh-eaters by ingrained
conviction, and who by thoughtlessness and ignorance, and to bring
over to our side from the latter class those who are naturally allied
to us, though by accident ranged in opposition. And this, once more,
can only be done by making the issues unmistakable.Incidentally,
I hope these pages may suggest to our antagonists that vegetarians,
perhaps, are not the weak brainless sentimentalists that they are so
often depicted. It is, to say the least of it, entertaining when a
critic who has just been inquiring (for example) "what would
become of the animals" if mankind were to desist from eating
them, goes on to remark of vegetarians that "their hearts are
better than their heads." Alas, we cannot truthfully return the
compliment by saying of such a philosopher that his head is better
than his heart! It cannot be too strongly stated that the appeal of
vegetarianism, as of all humane systems, is not to heart alone, nor
to brain alone, but to brain and heart combined, and that if its
claims fail to win this double judgment they are necessarily void and
invalid. The test of logic, no less than the test of feeling, is
deliberately challenged by us; for it is only by those who can think
as well as feel, and feel as well as think, that the diet question,
or indeed any great social question, can ever be brought to its
solution.
WHY "VEGETARIAN"?
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!