Veganism is the principle that humans should live without exploiting animals. It's a recognition that they are sentient individuals who deserve to live free from
exploitation, rejection of their objectification and use, and an uncompromising demand for their
emancipation from humans.
“The object of the (Vegan) Society shall be to end the
exploitation of animals by man”; and “The word veganism shall mean the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals.”
The Society pledges itself, “in pursuance of its object,” to “seek to end the use of animals by man for food, commodities, work, hunting, vivisection, and all other uses involving the
exploitation of animal life by man.
The effect of this development is to make veganism unique among movements concerned with animal welfare. For it has
crystallized as a whole, and not, as are all other such movements, as an abstraction. Where every other movement deals with a segment—and therefore deals directly with practices rather than principles—veganism is itself a principle, from which certain practices logically flow."
~ Veganism Defined (1951)
Exploitation: the act of using for selfish purposes. (In Search of Veganism 2, 1949)
*This definition was the consensus among several prominent members of Vegan Society
in 1951 with former vice-president Leslie J Cross as key figure in conceptualising the theoretical framework. Read the essays by Cross at tinyurl.com/lesliecross
