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Animals in Early Modern Thought

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Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences

Synonyms

Animalis ; Beasts; Creatures

Introduction

What is a nonhuman animal? During the early modern period, definitions ranged from an ensouled creature that exists between humans and plants on the scale of nature to a soulless but finely constructed automaton. Particularly fierce disputes erupted over whether animals are rational, sensitive, or language-using, and the ascribed attributes were widely thought to have a bearing on ethical questions. Is it acceptable to hunt animals? To eat them? Kick them? Experiment on them for the amelioration of human health and knowledge? This entry delves into these issues. It begins with a brief overview of Renaissance perspectives on the status of animals and René Descartes’ attempt to upend them, then turns to Pierre Gassendi’s and Henry More’s head-on refutations of Descartes, and proceeds to the less direct responses of other major early modern philosophers including Kenelm Digby, Margaret Cavendish, Baruch Spinoza, and Gottfried Wilhelm...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Justin Begley

Authors
  1. Justin Begley
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Correspondence to Justin Begley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Dana Jalobeanu

  2. Dept. of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Ghent University Dept. Philosophy & Moral Sci, Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

    Charles T. Wolfe

Section Editor information

  1. Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Dana Jalobeanu

  2. ERC Early Modern Cosmology (GA 725883), Ca’Foscari University, Venice, Italy

    Charles T. Wolfe

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Begley, J. (2021). Animals in Early Modern Thought. In: Jalobeanu, D., Wolfe, C.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_628-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_628-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20791-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20791-9

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