Johann Friedrich Ludwig Volckmann (22 January 1758 – 15 October 1815) was a German theologian, lawyer and animal rights writer.
Biography Volckmann studied theology (1777–1780) and law in Leipzig."Haben Tiere eine Seele?". Menschenstolz. Retrieved 20 September 2020."Autor/in: Volkmann, Johann Friedrich Ludwig". Thüringer Literaturrat. Retrieved 20 September 2020. 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).
In 1799, Volckmann authored Menschenstolz und Thierqualen, an early animal rights work.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. It was republished in 2018. In the book Volckmann stated that animals possess "memory, phantasy, moral sense" and some degree of rationality.
Volckmann argued that if man showed a higher admiration for the talents of animals, he would abstain from practicing cruelty. Volckmann was one of the earliest writers to apply the term "rights" to animals.Brucker, Renate. 2005. "Animal Rights and Human Progress". Animals in History. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
He married Wilhelmine Albertine Friederike Schöneweck in 1804.
Selected publications
Menschenstolz und Thierqualen (translated Human Pride and Animal Torture, 1799)
See also
Herman Daggett Wilhelm Dietler
References