Johann Friedrich Ludwig Volckmann

Johann Friedrich Ludwig Volckmann
Born22 January 1758
Arnstadt
Died15 October 1815 (1815-10-16) (aged 57)
Arnstadt
Occupation(s)Theologian, lawyer

Johann Friedrich Ludwig Volckmann (22 January 1758 – 15 October 1815) was a German theologian, lawyer and animal rights writer.

Volckmann studied theology (1777–1780) and law in Leipzig.[1][2] He worked in his hometown of Arnstadt as a bailiff and later as a government and court advocate. In 1794, he founded the Verein der Literaturfreunde zu Arnstadt (Association of Friends of Literature in Arnstadt).[1]

In 1799, Volckmann authored Menschenstolz und Thierqualen, an early animal rights work.[3][4] It was republished in 2018.[1] In the book Volckmann stated that animals possess "memory, phantasy, moral sense" and some degree of rationality.[4]

Volckmann argued that if man showed a higher admiration for the talents of animals, he would abstain from practicing cruelty.[4] Volckmann was one of the earliest writers to apply the term "rights" to animals.[5]

He married Wilhelmine Albertine Friederike Schöneweck in 1804.[2]

  1. ^ a b c "Haben Tiere eine Seele?". Menschenstolz. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Autor/in: Volkmann, Johann Friedrich Ludwig". Thüringer Literaturrat. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. ^ Ingensiep, Hans Werner (1996). "Tierseele und tierethische Argumentationen in der deutschen philosophischen Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts". NTM International Journal of History & Ethics of Natural Sciences, Technology & Medicine. 4: 103–118. doi:10.1007/BF02913783. S2CID 143479473.
  4. ^ a b c Maehle, Andreas-Holger. Cruelty and Kindness to the 'Brute Creation': Stability and Change in the Ethics of the Man-Animal Relationship, 1600-1850. In Aubrey Manning and James Serpell. (2003). Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives. Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 0-415-09155-1
  5. ^ Brucker, Renate. 2005. "Animal Rights and Human Progress". Animals in History. Retrieved 20 September 2020.