History of Vegetarianism - Valérie Chansigaud

History of Vegetarianism . “What a crime it is to devour entrails within one’s own entrails, to fatten one’s greedy body with a body one has gorged oneself on, and to sustain life within oneself through the death of another living being!” wrote Ovid. Following in his footsteps, since Antiquity, certain thinkers, philosophers, theologians, poets, scholars, and ordinary citizens have refused to eat animals. The History of Vegetarianism explores the journey and motivations (health, religious, ethical, economic, political, etc.) of this minority. Based on extensive and often overlooked documentation, this largely unpublished history adopts an original approach, revealing not only the personalities and organizations of vegetarians, but also their convictions, beliefs, and the opposition they faced. Abstinence from consuming animal flesh has gradually become a true way of life, but vegetarianism, which defies easy definition, can only be understood within a broad, temporal and cultural perspective of our ambivalent relationship with animals. By tracing its evolution, Valérie Chansigaud provides us with the tools to understand vegetarianism today, as well as our culture and society.