Ehrfurcht vor den Tieren

"THE REVERENCE FOR LIFE IS FOR ALL LIFE." ALBERT SCHWEITZER

"Ethics that does not also deal with our behavior toward the creature is incomplete." Albert Schweitzer's texts on the relationship between humans and animals still speak directly to readers today and allow us to rediscover the great philosopher, theologian, musician and physician as one of the most important pioneers of animal protection and animal ethics.
Albert Schweitzer is one of the most important thinkers of the animal protection movement. His doctrine of reverence for life naturally includes respect for all animals. Gathering Albert Schweitzer's scattered texts on animal ethics in one volume was therefore long overdue. The volume contains autobiographical texts in which Schweitzer vividly recounts how he was sensitized from childhood to the suffering of animals, or how monkeys, gazelles, pelicans, and other animals were taken seriously as companions and patients in his hospital in Lambarene. The focus is on philosophical, theological and cultural-historical reflections on animal ethics, in which Schweitzer asks about the role of the great religions and modern thought for our relationship to animals. The texts selected and introduced by Erich Gräßer speak directly to the reader. At a time when mass killings of animals are the order of the day, they have lost none of their topicality.