“The classical argument for why a supposedly decent and moral creature like Homo sapiens can mistreat and even extirpate other species rests upon an extreme position in a continuum. The Cartesian tradition, formulated explicitly in the seventeenth century, but developed in "folk" and other versions throughout human history no doubt, holds that other animals are little more than unfeeling machines, with only humans enjoying "consciousness," however defined.” HumansLittlesEnjoyAnimalConsciousnessMoralDoubtCenturyPositionCreaturesArgumentTraditionMachinesSpeciesFolksExtremesVersionsDefinedDecentNo DoubtHuman HistoryHomo SapiensContinuumUnfeelingMistreat Author:Stephen Jay Gould
“Everything is 'colossalized' - events, fortunes, accidents, climate, conversation, ambitions - everything is in the extreme ... They can't even have a tram run off a line, which in England or France might kill one or two people, without its making a holocaust of half a street full. ... The thing which surprises me is they should still employ animals of normal size; one would expect to see elephants and mammoths drawing the hansoms and carts!” PeopleShouldStillsTwoMightRunningLinesAnimalHalfUnited StatesStreetsEventsConversationNormalAmbitionEnglandFortuneSurpriseClimateSizeExtremesAccidentsDrawingFranceHolocaustElephantsExaggerationCartsSurprise MeTrams Author:Elinor Glyn
“I felt shame for living in a nation of unprecedented prosperity-a nation that spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any other civilization has in human history-but in the name of affordability treats the animals it eats with cruelty so extreme it would be illegal if inflicted on a dog.” IfsHumansWould BeNamesNationsFeltAnimalDogCivilizationTreatsShameProsperityExtremesIncomeCrueltyIllegalHuman HistoryPercentagesUnprecedentedAffordability Author:Jonathan Safran Foer
“To describe an animal as a physico-chemical system of extreme complexityis no doubt perfectly correct, except that it misses out on the animalness of the animal.” AnimalDoubtMissingExtremesNo DoubtChemicals Author:E. F. Schumacher
“It seems impossible, in fact, to judge the eye using any word other than seductive, since nothing is more attractive in the bodies of animals and men. But extreme seductiveness is probably at the boundary of horror.” MenFactsBodySeemsEyeAnimalImpossibleJudgingHorrorExtremesBoundariesAttractiveSeductive Book:Visions of Excess: Selected Writings 1927-1939 Source: Visions of Excess: Selected Writings 1927-1939