Moral Demands Towards Animals: British and German Perspectives (1670–1820)

The history of animal ethics in the long eighteenth century remains surprisingly understudied. British and Irish contributions have often been overshadowed by the retrospective dominance of Bentham's famous 1789 footnote, while the parallel German tradition — which has much more to offer than Kant's perspective on non-human animals — has been largely neglected. Yet both traditions deserve attention in their own right, and their juxtaposition raises important comparative questions: under what conditions do similar assumptions about sentience, soul, divine justice, or humanity's place in nature generate similar or radically different ethical conclusions? What travels between these traditions, what does not, and why?

This workshop invites contributions on any author, text, or debate from Britain, Ireland, or the German-speaking world between 1670 and 1820 bearing on the moral demands humans owe to animals: their moral or legal status, the normative significance of sentience (or soul), duties of care, animal rights, or their denial.

The workshop is organised as part of the ERC Advanced Grant '18ETHICS', based at the University of Milan. For more details on the project, see our website: https://18ethics.unimi.it/