Enhance Your Quote Experience
Enjoy ad-free browsing, unlimited collections, and advanced search features with Premium.
In offering to the public a book on Humanity to Animals, I am sensible that I lay myself open to no small portion of ridicule; independent of all the… - Thomas Young (animal welfare writer)
" "In offering to the public a book on Humanity to Animals, I am sensible that I lay myself open to no small portion of ridicule; independent of all the common dangers to which authors are exposed. To many, no doubt, the subject which I have chosen will appear whimsical and uninteresting, and the particulars into which it is about to lead me ludicrous and mean. From the reflecting, however, and the humane I shall hope for a different opinion and of these the number, I trust, among my countrymen is by no means inconsiderable. The exertions which have been made to diminish the sufferings of the prisoners, and to better the condition of the poor, the flourishing state of charitable institutions; the interest excited in the nation by the struggles for the abolition of the slave-trade; the growing detestation of religious persecution—all these and other circumstances induce me to believe that we have not been retrograding in Humanity during the present century: and I feel the more inclination and encouragement to execute the task to which I have set myself, inasmuch as humanity to animals presents itself to my mind as having an important connection with humanity towards mankind.
English
Collect this quote
About Thomas Young (animal welfare writer)
Thomas Young (bapt. 29 December 1772 – 11 November 1835) was an English writer, theologian, educator, and Anglican clergyman. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he matriculated as a sizar in 1789, became a scholar in 1793, and graduated as the 12th Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos of 1794. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1795 and went on to serve as an Assistant Tutor, Tutor, and Senior Dean. In 1813, he was appointed Rector of Gilling East, Yorkshire, a post he held until his death in 1835. Young wrote about animal ethics, particularly in his 1798 publication An Essay on Humanity to Animals. In this work, he used Christian theology and moral philosophy to criticise cruelty to animals, arguing that animals possess sentience and should receive humane treatment and the protection of certain natural rights. He drew on scripture to condemn various common practices involving the abuse of animals and held that moral responsibility extended to non-human creatures. In addition to his writings on animals, Young published sermons and theological tracts addressing doctrines of Christian belief, including the resurrection, righteousness, and prayer.
Related quotes. More quotes will automatically load as you scroll down, or you can use the load more buttons.
Additional quotes by Thomas Young (animal welfare writer)
Animals are endued with a capability of perceiving pleasure and pain; and from the abundant provision which we perceive in the world for the gratification of their several senses, we must conclude that the Creator wills the happiness of these his creatures, and consequently that humanity towards them is agreeable to him, and cruelty the contrary. This, I take it, is the foundation of the rights of animals, as far as they can be traced independently of scripture; and is, even by itself, decisive on the subject, being the same sort of argument as that on which moralists found the Rights of Mankind, as deduced from the Light of Nature.
Loading...