Wilhelm Dietler (died 1797) was a German

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and early

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

writer. Dietler was a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

and in 1791 received a professorship of logic and metaphysics at the University of Mainz.Klemme, Heiner F; Kuehn, Manfred. (2016). ''The Bloomsbury Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers''.

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...

. p. 166. He is best known for his book ''Gerechtigkeit gegen Thiere'' (''Justice Towards Animals'') in 1787. The book is the oldest work to use the German term "thierrechte" (animal rights). Dietler argued that the irrationality or incapability of animals to lodge claims was an insufficient reason to deny the existence of rights to animals as children showed the same characteristics in this respect yet nobody would deny that a child has certain rights. Two years later,

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...

used a similar argument in ''

An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation ''An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation'' is a book by the English philosopher and legal theorist Jeremy Bentham "originally printed in 1780, and first published in 1789." Bentham's "most important theoretical work," it is w ...

''. Dietler was influenced by and referred to the work of

Humphrey Primatt 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.

Soame Jenyns Soame Jenyns (1 January 1704 – 18 December 1787) was an English writer and Member of Parliament. He was an early advocate of the ethical consideration of animals. Life and work He was the eldest son of Sir Roger Jenyns and his second wife El ...

, Wilhelm Ludwig Wekhrlin and

Johann Georg Heinrich Feder Johann Georg Heinrich Feder (; 15 May 1740 – 22 May 1821) was a German philosopher. Life Feder was born on 15 May 1740 in the village of Schornweisach (now a part of Uehlfeld, Bavaria) in the Principality of Bayreuth, the son of Martin Heinr ...

. He argued that humans beings are permitted to kill animals quickly and painlessly for food but to make animals suffer or to kill them for pleasure is morally unjustifiable. Dietler's ideas had almost no acceptance from his contemporaries. It wasn't until the 20th century that his work was rediscovered as relevant to the present discussion of animal rights.

Selected publications

*''Bemerkungen ueber die Groese des Menschen nebst einem Entwurfe der Philosophie'' (1786)"Digital Archive of 18th Century German Texts"
publish.uwo.ca. Retrieved 22 November 2022. *
Gerechtigkeit gegen Thiere
' (''Justice Towards Animals'', 1787)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietler, Wilhelm 1797 deaths 18th-century German philosophers German animal rights scholars German ethicists Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni