Disertation On The Duty Of Mercy

Mellen Animal Rights Library Series #3

by John R. Shook, John R. Shook

This 18th-century divine's influential "Dissertation" was once regarded as the foundation stone of the RSPCA. It is devoted to teaching kindness to animals as a duty, and takes into account the connection between racism and the exploitation of non-humans, and between the violence of the 18th century and the failure of society in general to suppress its cruelties.

Genres: Animals

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1776

About the author

John R. Shook teaches philosophy at Bowie State University in Maryland. He is coeditor of The Blackwell Companion to Pragmatism and Neuroscience, Neurophilosophy, and Pragmatism.

He is also an instructor of science education for the ‘Science and the Public’ EdM online program at the University at Buffalo. In recent years he has been Adjunct Instructor in Philosophy and Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; and Associate Fellow at the Center for Neurotechnology Studies in the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia. Since 2015 he has contributed research for the US Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program. At Georgetown University, he works with James Giordano of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, and has mentored students in its Medical Ethics course. Dr. Shook’s research areas include history and philosophy of science, philosophy and ethics of technology, neurophilosophy, ethics and moral psychology, bioethics and neuroethics, medical humanities, and science-religion dialogue.