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Animal Sensibility and Inclusive Justice in the Age of Bernard Shaw
Animal Sensibility and Inclusive Justice in the Age of Bernard Shaw Author:Rod Preece In the late nineteenth century, a number of prominent reformers were — influenced by what Edward Carpenter called "the larger — socialism." They would not only address the "bread and — cheese" concerns of orthodox socialism, they intended to — completely transform society, including the place of animals within — it. — To open a window on late Victori... more »an ideas about animals, Rod Preece
explores what he calls radical idealism and animal sensibility in the
work of George Bernard Shaw, the acknowledged prophet of modernism and
conscience of his age. Preece examines Shaw's reformist thought
-- particularly the notion of inclusive justice, which aimed to
eliminate the suffering of both humans and animals -- in relation to
that of fellow reformers such as Howard Williams, Edward Carpenter,
Annie Besant, Anna Kingsford, and Henry Salt and the Humanitarian
League. 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 that
shaped Shaw's philosophy sheds new light not only on modernist
thought but also on an overlooked aspect of the history of the animal
rights movement.
Rod Preece is professor emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier
University and is the author of a number of books, including Brute
Souls, Happy Beasts, and Evolution and Sins of the Flesh.« less