The Decisive Century: The Emergence of the Kindness-to-Animals Ethic in the 1700s

2/5/2019

Dr. Bernard Unti - Senior Policy Advisor, Humane Society of the United States

The sweep of events between 1693 and 1800, encompassing John Locke’s important warning about the implications of cruelty to animals, Hogarth’s “Four Stages of Cruelty,” the proliferation of children’s works encouraging kindness, and the stirrings of concern for animals under law, comprise "the decisive century" for the kindness-to-animals ethic.

Humane education, like the kindness ethic itself, predates the formal origins of animal protection. John Locke’s notable endorsement of the need to chastise animal cruelty, and his environmentalist theory of human development, marked a turning point. Hogarth’s captivating print series was an early form of social marketing to a public audience. An entire publishing industry devoted to children’s work emerged to more deeply embed humane values among the young. Finally, at the turn of the century, the first expressions of concern in any legislative body emerged. This was an era of ferment, and a foundational phase in the history of animal protection. In this session, participants will gain a deeper understanding of a signature period in the development of the kindness-to-animals ethic, one with deep implications for the education of children and the inculcation of the animal protection ethic.

About our Speaker:
Bernard Unti, PhD is Senior Policy Advisor and Special Assistant to the President & CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, and works on wide range of strategic, policy, program, and communications priorities. An historian by training, he is the author of, Protecting All Animals: A Fifty-Year History of the Humane Society of the United States (2004), and with Bill DeRosa, co-author of the 2003 essay, “Humane Education: Past, Present, and Future.” His interests include the evolution of human attitudes toward animals, the history and sociology of the animal protection movement, the development of petkeeping, animal sheltering, and the kindness-to-animals ethic, the humane education of children, and the place of animal protection within American philanthropy.

Links and Resources:

Humane Society

Protecting All Animals Book

Unti Article

14 Comments

Maggie Lantzy

2/5/2019 12:29:13 pm

Dr. Unti, thank you for sharing your knowledge of HE history with us! I've had multiple people, including humane educators, talk about how HE is a new and innovative field so I appreciate you speaking on the history and stressing the importance of studying it! Also, thank you for all of the work you do at HSUS!

Bernard Unti

2/6/2019 01:21:50 pm

It's kind of you to write. I'm fortunate to be able to work at the HSUS, and i am happy whenever i have a chance to raise awareness about the longer history of humane education.

Christina Cirillo

2/5/2019 12:55:03 pm

Fascinating and enlightening, thank you!

2/6/2019 01:22:56 pm

Thanks. I am very grateful that i can help to reinforce the historical context for our work.

Julie OConnor link

2/5/2019 01:01:06 pm

Thanks, Dr. Unti. I did not know about our movement's vast history.

Bernard Unti link

2/6/2019 01:25:05 pm

There are a few good books I like on the movement's history.
Pets in America by Katherine C. Grier
The Rights of the Defenseless by Susan Pearson
and you can read my dissertation on the movement's history at the animal studies repository by clicking in my name. It's entitled "The Quality of Mercy."

Regina Rumford

2/5/2019 01:08:02 pm

Dr, Unti, a pleasure learning more about the history of humane education. I found the essay, "Humane Education: Past, Present, and Future" critical to understanding the evolution of the humane education movement. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

2/6/2019 01:26:05 pm

I'm proud that this essay has remained so popular and I think it might be the most popular and valued thing I've written. If so, that's great. Thanks for letting me know you appreciated it.

Kim Korona

2/5/2019 01:55:26 pm

Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge of the history of humane education. I too found your essay, "Humane Education: Past, Present, and Future" fascinating and it helped to give more context to the entire field. Much appreciation.

2/6/2019 01:28:16 pm

I'm happy whenever I learn that humane educators are keen to know more about the importance of this element of animal protection work over the longer course of history. I was asked to collaborate on the essay at an important moment in my professional formation as an historian, and I could not be happier that it continues to attract readers.

Stephanie

2/5/2019 02:25:59 pm

Thank you so much Bernie for always reminding us that we truly stand on the shoulders of giants and that our field has a long and rich history protecting people, animals, and our natural world. Next year I would love to see a session on nature study! And thank you for being a stalwart voice in the importance of humane education over the years.

2/7/2019 01:31:20 pm

That's nice of you to say. I have some disorganized thoughts about the nature study movement and it would be good to work them over a bit. I am noodling up on several short historical inquiries about humane education, which could become talks. They have to do with the moral entrepreneurs who first generated humane content to show educators and publishers how it would look if we blended humane values thoughtfully into our instruction and instructional materials. I'm very happy when I spend any time on these

Ingrid

2/5/2019 04:00:13 pm

If what you discuss was the "the decisive century", what do you think the next century will be labeled as?

2/7/2019 01:36:43 pm

It's funny, but I myself chafe at characterizations like "The Greatest Generation," because every generation is great or has its greatness or great people. And every century is decisive in its own way. I hope that this 21st century will be just that. If we take into account the substantial challenges we face, in regard to planet health and survival, we could easily designate this "the momentous century," or "the fateful century." All chronology and characterization are in the end the results of human artifice and are quite arbitrary. But one of the really great things about preparing this talk for this conference, and I mean it, was the chance to really ask myself, and to answer as i would want to, about the things that really came to define our work, and humane education. And that led me to the period we covered together here.
Thank you!

HUMANE SUMMIT 2019