Some of the greatest thinkers in the world adopted a vegetarian diet for many different reasons. Here is a list of philosophers who did not eat meat and why they chose to be vegetarians.
Was Plato a Vegetarian?
Much has been debated about Plato's vegetarianism, but little is known about it. Although some say that there are no evidences that indicate that Plato might have been a vegetarian, in The Republic, Plato describes an ideal state in which the guardian class should not eat meat under the argument that it was much more rational to choose a diet that would be less harmful to the environment and to the spirit.
Platonic philosophy defended that the act of eating – like any other behavior – should be done consciously, that is, people should have the power to choose between good and bad, morally right and morally wrong, harmful and harmless, instead of allowing the senses to determine what they are going to eat.
Plato's philosophical vegetarianism influenced those who came after him to abstain from eating meat, including (but not limited to) these great thinkers:
- Plotinus – philosopher and founder of Neoplatonism;
- Theophrastus – the successor of Aristotle;
- Plutarch – Greek thinker who wrote On the Eating of the Flesh;
- Porphyry – philosopher and author of On Abstinence From Animal Food, and;
- Xenokrates – school head of the Platonic Academy.
The Pythagoreans and Other Presocratics Were Vegetarians
The most famous Presocratic vegetarian was Pythagoras. Pythagoras put all his disciples under strict rules of conduct which included vegetarianism, celibacy and vows of silence. The reasons to choose a vegetarian diet was based on the concept of transmigration of the soul, or the doctrine of reincarnation. Pythagoreans believed that animals would reincarnate as humans in future cycles of rebirth, therefore, they were worthy of respect.
These are some of the Presocratics who were vegetarians:
- Hesiod – Greek poet and thinker,
- Ovid – Roman poet, thinker and compiler of great myths;
- Sotion – a Neopythagorean who was also an admirer of the Stoic philosophy;
- Empedocles – a follower of the Pythagorean teachings and a reincarnationist, and;
- Apollonius of Tyana – a Neopythagorean and celibatarian who performed healings and is sometimes considered the historical Jesus.
Were the Stoics Vegetarians? Stoicism and Vegetarianism
The Stoics were generally not vegetarian. However, two of the greatest Stoics in history did choose a vegetarian diet. Seneca, the Roman philosophers and tutor of Nero, and Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman emperor, did not eat meat.
Here are two of Seneca's famous quotes on vegetarianism:
- "But for the sake of some little mouthful of meat, we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy."~ Seneca.
- "Let us ask what is best, not what is customary. Let us love temperance - let us be just - let us refrain from bloodshed. None is so near the gods as he who shows kindness" ~Seneca
Renaissance Philosophers and Vegetarianism
During the Renaissance, the Platonic philosophy re-emerged and the ancient knowledge that had been forgotten during the middle ages, started to spread among the prominent thinkers of that time. The philosophical vegetarianism taught by the ancient schools of thought as a way to reach the human ideal was resurrected in the Italian society. These great thinkers chose to follow the example of the Platonists:
- Marsilio Ficino – philosopher, Hermeticist and astrologer;
- Giordano Bruno – great thinker burnt at the stake in 1600 by the inquisition, and;
- Leonardo da Vinci – artist, inventor, scientist, philosopher and genius.
The Utilitarian View on Vegetarianism
The utilitarian argument in favor of vegetarianism is based on the idea that killing animals for food causes unjustified suffering to the animals at the same time that it does not bring much benefits for humans. So, eating meat would only be justifiable if the benefits of eating it could outweigh the suffering imposed on animals, which does not seem to be the case, since people can have a healthier life by adopting a vegetarian diet. Here are some of the most prominent utilitarians who defended vegetarianism:
- Peter Singer – contemporary Australian philosopher, professor at Princeton University;
- Jeremy Bentham – English philosopher, jurist and reformer;
- David Hume – Scottish philosopher, essayist, economist and empiricist;
- David Pearce – philosopher of the negative utilitarian school of ethics, and;
- John Stuart Mill – British philosopher who focused on politics and economy.
Other Prominent Thinkers
These great thinkers also defended a vegetarian diet:
- Richard Wagner – famous composer, he wrote Against Vivisection;
- Leo Tolstoy – Russian novelist and dramatist, one of the most brilliant writers of the 19th century;
- Arthur Schopenhauer – German philosopher who influenced the existentialist school of thought;
- Albert Schweitzer – Alsacian philosopher, theologian, musician and Nobel Prize winner (1953);
- William Alcott – the first president of the American Vegetarian Society;
- Albert Einstein – German physicist, the father of the theory of general relativity, and;
- Voltaire – French writer, historian and philosopher.
Articles About Philosophical Vegetarianism
Readers might also want to read:
- Neoplatonism and Vegetarianism;
- Pythagoras on Vegetarianism;
- Plutarch on Vegetarianism, and;
- The Soul of the Animals.
Sources:
Peter Singer, Practical Ethics, 2nd. Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
Bentham, Jeremy. The Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1789.
William Ashton Ellis (trans.) Richard Wagner's Prose Works. Volume 6: Religion and Art. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1897.
Tolstoy, Leo. Essays and Letters. New York: H. Frowde, 1909.
The Animal Rights Library offers free access to the works of the people mentioned in this article (accessed on january 31, 20110).
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