Thomas Lepeltier (born 4 January 1967) is a French independent scholar, essayist and science writer specializing in the history andphilosophy of science andapplied ethics, known in particular for his contributions to the field ofanimal law. He is the author of several philosophical works onanimal ethics such asL'imposture intellectuelle des carnivores ("The Intellectual Deception of Carnivores") and ofscience history books includingDarwin hérétique ("Darwin Heretic") andUnivers parallèles ("Parallel Universes"). Known initially as a science historian, he now mainly advocates in defense of animals in the French media.
Thomas Lepeltier was born on 4 January 1967.[1] Following the completion of a PhD in astrophysics in 1994, Lepeltier taught in Newcastle, Toulouse, and Paris,[2] he focused his research on the history and philosophy of science.[3] He later discovered animal ethics and developed an interest in veganism after readingCharles Patterson'sEternal Treblinka.[4] Lepeltier publishedLa Révolution végétarienne ("The Vegetarian Revolution") in 2013, in which he explores the history ofslavery abolition[5] and argues that the "struggle for veganism will eventually succeed as the struggle against human slavery did".[6] He became an Associate Fellow of theOxford Centre for Animal Ethics in 2019.[7]
Lepeltier has been called upon to debate animal ethics several times on French television,[8] radio[9] and forums.[10][11] Lepeltier is also the author of several works attempting to deconstruct the discourses justifying the use of animals, he mobilizes on these occasions a wide variety of arguments from the three major currents ofnormative ethics, whether it is a question of recalling the definition ofspeciesism according toPeter Singer,[11] that the theories of thesocial contract do not impose (like babies) to be able to respect duties in order to have rights,[11] or that it is cruel to deprive animals of their lives for the personal pleasure gained by eating them.[12]
Lepeltier is also a regular contributor to the Frenchpopular science magazinesLa Recherche andSciences Humaines[13] and is an editor of and writer for the French-language antispeciesist journalL'Amorce ("The Primer").[14]
Lepeltier's philosophy is antispeciesist: he considers that the species to which a living being belongs is not in itself a relevant criterion of moral consideration and that in particular, the mere fact of belonging to a particular species cannot in itself justify that an animal can be killed to, for example, serve as a meal.[15]
Particularly interested in the analysis of the speeches of French-speaking intellectuals, Lepeltier considers that "most say or even write anything to justify their consumption of meat, eggs and dairy products" and that "unfortunately, in a media world complacent, no one denounces this bad faith of professionals, this silence of politicians and this ineptitude of intellectuals".[12] He has sometimes been criticised for his condemnation of all breeding (without distinction between industrial and non-industrial varieties) and his use of analogies with human slavery orThe Holocaust.[9][16]
Lepeltier has distinguished himself within the French animalist movement, as a defender of interventionism in favor of reducing thesuffering of wild animals. He believes that our lack of responsibility for the fate of wild animals should not make us indifferent to their fate; we should, he says, worry about wild animals and think of solutions to alleviate their suffering.[17] Lepeltier has also engaged with thepredation problem, arguing that predation is something that humans should work towards preventing.[13]
^abcBonnardel, Yves; Lepeltier, Thomas (2019-01-15)."L'antispécisme face à ses contempteurs" [Antispeciesism in the face of its contemptors].Libération.fr (in French). Retrieved2020-07-29.
^abLepeltier, Thomas (2018-11-07)."J'accuse! Lettre aux carnistes" [I accuse! Letter to carnists].L'Amorce (in Canadian French). Retrieved2020-07-29.
