Humphrey Primatt (1734 – ) was an English clergyman and animal rights writer.Simons, John. (2002). ''Animals, Literature and the Politics of Representation''. Palgrave. pp. 39-41. "Humphry Primatt"
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved February 2, 2020. Primatt has been described as "one of the most important figures in the development of a notion of animal rights."

Biography

Primatt was born in London, in 1734. He obtained a BA in 1757 and MA in 1764 from Clare College, Cambridge. He was a Church of England clergyman. He was vicar of Higham (1766-1774) and rector of Brampton (1771–1774). Primatt obtained a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from Marischal College, in 1773. He married a Miss Gulliver on 2 October 1769 and retired in 1771 to Kingston upon Thames.

Animal rights

In 1776, Primatt authored ''A Dissertation on the Duty of Mercy and Sin of Cruelty to Brute Animals'', which argued that all animals were created by God, so deserve humane treatment and that any form of cruelty to animals should be equated with

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

and wickedness. Primatt held that pain is evil and humans have no right to inflict it on animals or each other. He commented that "pain is pain, whether it be inflicted on man or on beast". It was one of the first books to argue for the compassionate treatment of animals and influenced the

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

movement.Niven, Charles D. (1967). ''History of the Humane Movement''.

Transatlantic Arts Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

. p. 53 The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals considers the book a "foundation stone" of their organization as it influenced the founders of their society. Arthur Broome was inspired by Primatt's book and republished it in 1822.Bekoff, Marc. (2010). ''Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, 2nd Edition''. ABC-CLIO. pp. 484-485. Henry Stephens Salt described it as a "quaint but excellent book". Marc Bekoff has noted that "Primatt was largely responsible for bringing animal welfare to the attention of the general public." Primatt did not promote

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

.Puskar-Pasewicz, Margaret. (2010). ''Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism''. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 230. He suggested that man is permitted to kill animals for food but denied that this permits unnecessary suffering.

Selected publications

*'' A Dissertation on the Duty of Mercy and Sin of Cruelty to Brute Animals'' (1776)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primatt, Humphrey 1734 births 1770s deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Clergy from London Doctors of Divinity English animal rights scholars Writers from London

Biography

Animal rights

Selected publications

See also

References