Animal Ethics and Vivisection in the Philosophy of Anna Kingsford: Forthcoming Article in the Journal of the History of Ideas

I am pleased to share that my article, "Animal Ethics and Vivisection in the Philosophy of Anna Kingsford," has been accepted for publication in the Journal of the History of Ideas. This article intervenes in current efforts to reassess the intellectual contributions of nineteenth-century women and to broaden the historiography of philosophy beyond its conventional boundaries.

The article offers a sustained philosophical engagement with the work of Anna Kingsford (1846–1888), a figure known for her involvement in anti-vivisection activism and esoteric religious thought, but rarely, if ever, understood as a philosopher. While Kingsford has attracted recent attention from scholars working on vivisection, vegetarianism, gender, the occult, and posthumanism, her ideas have yet to be taken seriously within the history of philosophy as such. My article addresses this gap by analysing Kingsford’s ethical and epistemological critique of vivisection and situating it within a broader metaphysical framework. I argue that her work demonstrates an original and systematic philosophical approach that merits recognition in its own right. Following the work of philosopher Alison Stone, I suggest that Kingsford—like many other women excluded from institutional academic settings—used the generalist press to engage in philosophical discourse. This mode of intervention, while intellectually rich, has contributed to the marginalisation of her work within the history of philosophy.

An earlier version of this research was presented at the British Society for the History of Philosophy annual conference in April 2025, and I am grateful to those who offered feedback and discussion at that time.

Abstract

Anna Kingsford (1846-1888) was a prominent intellectual engaged in debates surrounding vivisection, but is rarely, if ever, recognized as a philosopher. This article seeks to change that. First, it situates Kingsford within efforts to recover nineteenth-century women philosophers. Then, it examines the development of Kingsford's philosophically interesting arguments concerning vivisection, showing their eclecticism. It explores how Kingsford's ethical ideas are connected to her epistemological critique of vivisection and how both of these arguments are grounded within a metaphysical foundation. The article ultimately claims that Kingsford ought to be taken seriously as an original and systematic philosopher.

Émile-Édouard Mouchy, A Physiological Demonstration with Vivisection of a Dog (1832). Oil on canvas. This painting depicts a live vivisection conducted in a 19th-century scientific setting—precisely the kind of practice that Anna Kingsford critiqued on ethical, epistemological, and metaphysical grounds. Used here to illustrate the historical context of Kingsford's opposition to animal experimentation, as well as the male-dominated world of medicine and anatomy that women like her would begin to challenge later in the century. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/mfxeq5jz.

Author Accepted Manuscript (Open Access)

In accordance with the journal's Green OA policy, the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) will shortly be available through Loughborough's institutional repository. This version reflects the final peer-reviewed manuscript prior to copyediting and typesetting. https://hdl.handle.net/2134/29267201.v1.

[I will update this post with links to the article once it becomes available.]