Abstract
The ideological underpinning of the animal welfare/animal rights movement is not a recent development, but rather the result of a revolutionary change in Western man's perception of the natural world between 1500 and 1800. In 1500, these basic perceptions were as follows: (1) the world was created for man's sake and all other species were subordinate to his wishes, (2) man's stance toward other species was essentially that of subjugation or conquest, (3) humans were absolutely unique and separate from the rest of creation. By 1800, these basic perceptions had been fundamentally altered to reflect the following: (1) the world did not exist for nor was it created for man alone, (2) man's stance toward the natural world and especially toward other animals was that of stewardship, and animals were within the sphere of moral concern, (3) man was a superior animal, although the basis for this superiority was not entirely clear, and was related to all other animals through physiologic similarities and the powers of feeling and sensation.