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| Author | Henry S. Salt |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | |
| Publisher | Vegetarian Society |
Publication date | 1914 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Pages | 70 |
| OCLC | 21491494 |
The Humanities of Diet: Some Reasonings and Rhymings is a 1914 book by British writer and social reformerHenry S. Salt. Published in Manchester by theVegetarian Society, it combines short essays, dialogues, and poems in support ofethical vegetarianism andanimal rights. The book drew on Salt’s earlier writings on the subject, including an article of the same name inThe Fortnightly Review (1896) and a 22-page pamphlet published by William Reeves in 1897. and added further material.
The phrase "logic of the larder", later used inanimal ethics debates to describe a version of thereplaceability argument, is credited to Salt's discussion of the idea inThe Humanities of Diet.
Henry S. Salt (1851–1939) was born atNaini Tal in India and educated atEton College andKing's College, Cambridge. He taught classics at Eton between 1875 and 1884, then settled atTilford in Surrey, where he adopted a vegetarian lifestyle and devoted himself to writing on humanitarianism and social reform.[1]
During the late 1880s and 1890s, Salt published a series of pamphlets and books onvegetarianism andanimal rights, includingFlesh or Fruit? An Essay on Food Reform (1888) andAnimals' Rights Considered in Relation to Social Progress (1892). His later writing also addressed corporal punishment, alongside a wider range of literary and political topics.[1]
Salt first published "The Humanities of Diet" as an article inThe Fortnightly Review in September 1896.[2] In 1897, it was expanded and reissued as a 22-page pamphlet, published in London by William Reeves as no. 23 inThe Humanitarian League's Publications series.[3][4] The 1914 bookThe Humanities of Diet: Some Reasonings and Rhymings, published in Manchester by theVegetarian Society included the previous writings and added further material, bringing the volume to 70 pages.[5]
The book combines short essays, dialogues, and poems. Its recurring themes include opposition to slaughter and meat-eating, criticism of social indifference to animal suffering, and satire of common justifications for killing animals for food.[6]
Several pieces present humane diet arguments directly (for example "The Humanities of Diet", "Grace Before Meat", "Logic of the Larder", and "The Moralist at the Shambles"), while others use parody, dialogue, or character sketches to make similar points (including "A Chat with Professor Grillman", "Paterfamilias at the Breakfast Table", and "Mr. Facing-Both-Ways"). The volume also includes poems and dramatic vignettes centred on particular animals and scenes of slaughter ("A Cow Mourning for Her Calf", "The Dying Ox", and "Voices of the Voiceless"), alongside seasonal or topical pieces such as "The Joys of Christmas" and the Christmas-themed sketches.[6]
Reviewing the book in February 1914,The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review commended it as a contribution to vegetarian literature, quoting Salt's description of opposition to flesh-eating as a protest against a practice he called a "relic of savagery". The review also commented on the book's physical production, describing it as well printed and bound in green cloth to match earlier Vegetarian Society editions of Salt's work.[7]
Inanimal ethics, thereplaceability argument holds that farmed animals can be said to benefit from being bred for food, because demand for meat is the reason they are brought into existence. On this view, provided such animals are well treated, it is better for them to exist than not, and replacing animal products with alternatives can be presented as depriving them of lives worth living. Salt is credited with introducing the term "logic of the larder" for this position inThe Humanities of Diet.[8][9][10]
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