C. S. Lewis’s argument against vivisection

    C. S. Lewis’s argument against vivisection is this:

Once the old Christian idea of a total difference in kind between man and beast has been abandoned, then no argument for experiments on animals can be found which is not also an argument for experiments on inferior men. If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reason.

    Compare, if you’d like, C. S. Lewis’s argument against vivisection with that in a post on this weblog made on 5/31/06 and titled “John Cowper Powys’ unanswerable argument against vivisection.”
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    For a brief biography of C. S. Lewis, click here.