Vegetarianism A History

by Spencer, Colin

• ISBN13: 9781568582917
• ISBN10: 1568582919
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-20
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books

Summary

The aim of this book is to explore "the psychology of abstention from flesh and to discover why omnivorous humans at times voluntarily abstain from an available food." Spencer begins in pre-history and ends in modern times.

Author Biography

In addition to his many acclaimed books on vegetarian cooking, Colin Spencer has written regular food columns for The Guardian and Country Living. He lives on the south coast of England, where he grows rare and unusual vegetables

Table of Contents

Foreword for 2nd Edition	p. viii
Foreword	p. x
Acknowledgements	p. xiv
In the Beginning	p. 1
The Decisive Primate
The Aquatic Ape?
Toolmakers and Gatherers
Migration
The Emergence of Humans
Gathering Food
Taming the Environment
Surplus Food
Altars and Gardens
Pythagoras and His Inheritance	p. 38
Meat in Homer
The Life of Pythagoras
The Teaching
Beans
The School at Croton
Stories
Religious Practice
The Orphic Religion
Egypt
Zoroaster
The Pythagorean Enigma
Empedocles
The Pythagoreans
Aristoxenus
The Heritage of Pythagoras
India	p. 70
The Indus Valley
The Aryan Invasion
Hinduism
Buddhism
Jainism
Asoka
Plato to Porphyry	p. 85
Plato at Table
Greek Food
Aristotle
The Stoics
Rome
Plutarch
The Neoplatonists
Porphyry
Early Christianity	p. 107
St Paul's Gospel
The Essenes
The Dietary Laws
Christian Expansion
Asceticism
Meat and Milk
The Quail Plague
Clean or Unclean
Gnostic Sects and the Manicheans	p. 126
Whence Came the True Voice of God?
The Equality of Women
Gnostic Variety
Manicheanism
Augustine of Hippo
The Bogomils, the Cathars and the Orthodox Church	p. 142
The Paulicians
The Massalians
The Bogomils
Royal Converts
Growing Heresies
Pure and Vegetarian
Cathar Doctrine
The Albigensian Crusade
Two Christian Saints
The Criminal Prosecution of Animals
Articles of Faith
Medieval Fasting
The Renaissance	p. 169
Riches and Famine
Dissident Voices
Renaissance Man Himself
Food as Secular Ritual
Rediscoveries
Explorations
The Clockwork Universe	p. 187
Cartesianism
More Dissidents
Thomas Tryon
Soul Searching
To Eat Meat or Not?
Two Poets
Pierre Bayle
The Rise of Humanism	p. 213
The Reforming Spirit
Belief and Scepticism
Voltaire
Paine
Paley
Franklin
Ritson and the Cry of Nature
The Agricultural Revolution
Shelley
Docks and Dandelions	p. 238
Swedenborg's Disciples
Concordium
Ramsgate and After
The Indian Mutiny
Animal Slaughter
The United States
London and Reform
George Bernard Shaw
Wagner
Croydon and the Simple Life
Animal Welfare
Tolstoy and the Dukhobors
Gandhi and the Danielites
The Flowering of the Ethic
Sunlight and Sandals	p. 275
Poverty and War
Criticism and Ridicule
Raw Foods
Hitler
Between the Wars
The Order of the Cross and Mazdaznanism
The Second World War
Sentient or Machine?	p. 296
The Counter-Culture
Modern Farming
Caring for the Environment
The Concept of Pure Food
Government Bungling
Genetic Engineering
Class
The Reason Why
The Future
Afterword	p. 331
The Later History of Buddhism	p. 336
Manicheanism in China	p. 339
Modern Hinduism	p. 342
The Rise of the Vegetarian Cookery Book	p. 344
Notes	p. 346
A Select Bibliography	p. 367
Index	p. 372
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