This is a medieval rendition of Porphyry of Tyre, a philosopher who lived in the late Roman Empire (c 234-305 CE), and one of the most articulate advocates of vegetarianism from Ancient world.
Porphyry was renowned for many philosophical contributions, including writing the standard textbook on logic that lasted for over a thousand years, as well as his hostile polemics against Christianity. But here I want to focus on his arguments in favor of eliminating meat from the diet.
Porphyry’s “Concerning the Abstinence from animal food,” is the Ancient Mediterranean world’s most elaborate plea for a plant-based diet. A few other Greeks and Romans were known for arguing that animals should not be eaten, their reasons being three-fold: first, many philosophers believed in the “transmigration” of the soul, which means that after an animal dies it goes into another animal’s body, and cross-species bodily infiltration was thought to be possible (“don’t beat that dog, that was my neighbor” — Diogenes Laertus). Second, many Ancient vegetarians thought that eating meat might harm their own bodies. And third, out of concern for animals lest they suffer.
To such arguments, many non-vegetarian philosophers claimed that animals are irrational and therefore it was fine to kill them. Against this logic, Porphyry argued that possessing rationality oughtn’t be the standard: after all, many humans aren’t particularly logical, and yet we don’t think that it’s okay to kill them.
Porphyry’s arguments fell on deaf ears, for the most part. Ancient Hindu society was for many centuries the culture that most promoted vegetarianism.
Sources: “Vegetarianism and the argent from marginal cases in Porphyry ” Daniel A Dombrowski, _Journal of the History of Ideas_, vol 45, no 1 (Jan-Mar, 1984), pp 141-143. Image from Wikipedia, Porphyry, a detail of the Tree of Jesse, 1535, Sucevita Monastery.
