So the Renaissance writers wrote self-indulgent essays in
whichtheysaidthat“nothingintheworldcanbefoundthatis
more worthy of admiration than man”^20 and described
humansas“thecenterofnature,themiddleoftheuniverse,
thechainoftheworld.”^21 IftheRenaissancemarksinsome
respectthebeginningofmodernthought,sofarasattitudesto
animals were concerned earlier modes of thought still
maintained their hold.
Aroundthistime,however,wemaynoticethefirstgenuine
dissenters:LeonardodaVinciwasteasedbyhisfriends for
beingsoconcernedaboutthesufferingsofanimals thathe
becameavegetarian;^22 andGiordano Bruno,influencedby
the new Copernican astronomy, which allowed for the
possibilityofotherplanets,someofwhichcouldbeinhabited,
venturedto assertthat“manisno morethanan antin the
presenceoftheinfinite.”Brunowasburnedatthestakein
1600 for refusing to recant his heresies.
MicheldeMontaigne’sfavoriteauthorwasPlutarch,andhis
attackonthehumanistassumptions ofhis agewouldhave
met with the approval of that gentle Roman:
Presumptionisournaturalandoriginaldisease....’Tisbythe
samevanityofimaginationthat[man]equalshimselftoGod,
attributes to himself divine qualities, and withdraws and
separates himself from the crowd of other creatures.^23
Itissurelynotacoincidencethatthewriterwhorejectssuch
self-exaltation should also, in his essay “On Cruelty,” be
amongtheveryfewwriterssinceRomantimestoassertthat
cruelty to animals is wrong in itself, quite apart from its
tendency to lead to cruelty to human beings.