Ruskin, Vivisection, and Scientific Knowledge

Abstract

Explores the complex relationship between Ruskin’s writing on animal welfare and late-nineteenth-century developments in scientific practice as well as public attitudes toward science. Believes Ruskin’s antivivisectionist stance, coupled with his belief in the efficacy of the scientific method, led him to produce a body of writing that actually offered a feasible alternative to current practices in animal experimentation which could have united moderates in rejecting vivisection while still promoting scientific research.