Anti-Vivisection and the Profession of Medicine in Britain: A Social History

This Book Is Open Access Under A Cc By 4.0 License. This Book Explores The Social History Of The Anti-vivisection Movement In Britain From Its Nineteenth-century Beginnings Until The 1960s. It Discusses The Ethical Principles That Inspired The Movement And The Socio-political Background That Explains Its Rise And Fall. Opposition To Vivisection Began When Medical Practitioners Complained It Was Contrary To The Compassionate Ethos Of Their Profession. Christian Anti-cruelty Organizations Took Up The Cause Out Of Concern That Callousness Among The Professional Classes Would Have A Demoralizing Effect On The Rest Of Society. As The Nineteenth Century Drew To A Close, The Influence Of Transcendentalism, Eastern Religions And The Spiritual Revival Led New Age Social Reformers To Champion A More Holistic Approach To Science, And Dismiss Reliance On Vivisection As A Materialistic Oversimplification. In Response, Scientists Claimed It Was Necessary To Remain Objective And Unemotional In Order To Perform The Experiments Necessary For Medical Progress. Introduction -- Chapter 1. Vivisection, Virtue, And The Law In The Nineteenth Century -- Chapter 2. Have Animals Souls? -- Chapter 3. A New Age For A New Century -- Chapter 4. The National Anti-vivisection Hospital, 1902-1935 -- Chapter 5. The Research Defence Society -- Chapter 6. State Control, Bureaucracy, And The National Interest From The Second World War To The 1960s -- Conclusion. A.w.h. Bates. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. English.