「動物虐待」から「大量殺人」へ?

The Frankenstein Syndrome: Ethical and Social Issues in the Genetic Engineering of Animals (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy)

The Frankenstein Syndrome: Ethical and Social Issues in the Genetic Engineering of Animals (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy)

昨日*1に続いて、Bernard E. RollinのThe Frankenstein Syndromeから。


(…) It has been believed since antiquity, incorporated into Catholic dogma by Thomas Aquinas in the Middle Age, and reaffirmed by contemporary psychology and psychiatry, that people who begin by abusing animals will often graduate to abusing people. Among the most notorious mass murderers we have seen in the last decade or so, almost all have had histories of animal abuse. (p.140)
トマス・アクィナスが「動物虐待」に言及しているのは知らなかった。それから、1980年代以降における「大量殺人者」の「殆ど全員」が「動物虐待」を経験しているというのはそのような研究があるのだろうか。この本の刊行は1995年だが、Rollin氏は「Randoll Lockwood博士、私信」としている(p.222)。