In The Company of Carnivores

Linda McCartney wrote: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls the whole world would be vegetarian.”

Browsing the internet tonight (see: avoiding Econ homework!) Andrew and I stumbled upon a couple surprising lists of famous vegetarians.

I’ve oft’ been reminded that Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian (though not a strict vegetarian, let the historical record reflect!). Until tonight, however, no one had bothered to tell me that so was Albert Einstein. In fact, here’s what he had to say on the subject:

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
Albert Einstein

In fact, vegetarianism has a long-standing history among Western intellectuals, starting with Plato, Socrates and Aristotle– all vegetarians.

There is a significant gap between the ancient Greek philosophers and the next significant vegetarian: the Renaissance Man par excellence, Leonardo Da Vinci.

The western Enlightenment was born from the discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton. Appropriately, Newton was a vegetarian– along with his contemporaries, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire.

Vegetarianism was especially popular among romantic poets and Enlightenment philosophers. William Blake and Lord Byron both felt that their Romantic ideals demanded vegetarianism.

Later in the 18th century, notables as disparate as Leo Tolstoy and Charles Darwin join the list. For the philosopher contingent, count in Immanuel Kant, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The list continues: Mark Twain, Mary Shelly, Jeremy Bentham, Benjamin Franklin, Susan B Anthony, Franz Kafka and George Bernard Shaw (who once commented that “Animals are my friends and I don’t eat my friends.”) all eschewed meat for vegetables.

Present day Hollywood also has a respected cadre of vegi-lovers. I knew Natalie Portman to be talented and hyper intelligent (to say nothing of attractive), but I didn’t know she’s a strict vegan. (Rather amazing, actually: many vegans (and vegetarians) tend to develop a more “classical” figure with time. Portman, obviously, has not…). She insisted on wearing plastic boots for her role in V For Vendetta, as did vegan Joaquin Phoenix in Walk This Line. Also on the list: Christian Bale, Jude Law, Dustin Hoffman, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Connelly. It’s not just actors: Clint Eastwood and Steve Martin are both vegetarians, in addition to being acclaimed directors.

I also found a few of my favorite musicians on the list, including Thom Yorke, The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Bob Marley.

Anyhow. I guess one can conclude that, though vegetarians are greatly the minority in the western intellectual tradition, it’s good to know that, at the very least, Andrew and I are in good company. =)