Animal Sensibility and Inclusive Justice in the Age of Bernard Shaw

"In the late nineteenth century, a number of prominent reformers were influenced by what Edward Carpenter called "the larger socialism." They would not only address the "bread and cheese" concerns of orthodox socialism, they intended to completely transform society, including the place of animals within it. To open a window on late Victorian ideas about animals, Rod Preece explores what he calls radical idealism and animal sensibility in the work of George Bernard Shaw, the acknowledged prophet of modernism and conscience of his age. Preece examines Shaw's reformist thought -- particularly the notion of inclusive justice, which aimed to eliminate the suffering of both humans and animals -- in relation to that of fellow reformers such as Howard Williams, Edward Carpenter, Annie Besant, Anna Kingsford, and Henry Salt and the Humanitarian League. Shaw's philosophy of Creative Evolution, Preece argues, was a dimension of socialist thought in response to Darwinism. Preece's fascinating account of the characters and crusades that shaped Shaw's philosophy sheds new light not only on modernist thought but also on an overlooked aspect of the history of the animal rights movement." -- Publisher's website.