
Lewis Gompertz
Lewis Gompertz was an English philosopher, writer, inventor, and social reformer, associated with early animal protection campaigning in Britain. Born into an affluent Jewish family of London diamond merchants, he argued that killing or using animals for human purposes was morally wrong, and adopted a personal practice of avoiding animal products and other goods derived from animals, described by later writers as an early form of veganism. A founding member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, he served as honorary secretary from 1828 and resigned in 1833 after the organisation adopted an explicitly Christian constitution. He then co-founded the Animals' Friend Society with T. Forster, ran it with his wife Ann, and edited its periodical Animals' Friend, or, The Progress of Humanity from 1833 to 1841. Gompertz set out his views in Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824), which also discussed capitalism, women's oppression, and Owenite social refo
Career Journey
Background
- Born in
- London
Trending & Selected Quotes
Trending topics shown first"But as the multiplication of animals exceeds the vegetable food, it is true that by killing some of the animals not any the less live, as they are only killed instead of starved. This, we are sorry to…"
"It is strange that philosophers first show how one animal supports itself by destroying another, and then enter into discussions on the apparent admirable order of things in their present state. But t…"
"It has been generally, but not always, the custom of naturalists to degrade the powers of dumb animals into mere instinct, and not to allow them reason; and on the other hand to elevate the qualities …"
"Therefore it is plain that no particular thing can be made by a machine at all; neither an atom, or matter, which is the only identity of matter; nor the soul, which is the only identity of a person .…"
"And though I cannot conceive how any person can shut his eyes to the general state of misery throughout the universe, I still think that it is for a wise purpose; that the evils of life, which could n…"
Works & Publications
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Timeline
1783
Born
Birth1861
Died
Death
Influenced By
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Influenced
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Information about Lewis Gompertz is sourced from curated knowledge bases and cross-referenced for accuracy. Influence relationships are scored by thematic overlap and historical plausibility.
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