Seventeenth-century French philosopher Descartes is named only in the title, not in the text, in this song by Canadian band Propagandhi.
Propagandhi. (1996). “Nailing Descartes to the Wall/(Liquid) Meat is Still Murder,” Less Talk, More Rock. Fat Wreck Chords.
Descartes claimed that animals were machines, while humans, being spiritual beings, were not. The eighteenth-century French philosopher Julien Offray de La Mettrie denied this differentiation by Descartes between humans and (other) animals. That brought De La Mettrie persecution: he had to flee, first to the Dutch Republic, then to Prussia.
We find the title ‘Nailing Descartes to the Wall’, based on the Propagandhi song, again in this book chapter which also names Descartes only in the title:
‘”Nailing Descartes to the wall”: Animal Rights, Veganism and Punk Culture’. In: Anarchism and Animal Liberation: Essays on Complementary Elements of Total Liberation. (2015). Ed: Nocella, A & White, R & Cudworth, E. Jefferson: McFarland & Company.
‘Through bringing together material from numerous bands, zines, patches, leaflets, and newly researched interview material, this essay examines the relationships between punk culture and animal rights/vegan consumption habits. It is argued that this relationship is most strongly and consistently expressed, and most sensibly understood, in connection with anarchism. Examining the overlaps between animal rights/veganism and punk is important in several ways. Firstly, it is a significantly under- researched area—as environmental journalist Will Potter (2011) argues, given the importance that punk plays in the political development of individual activists, it is surprising that “there is a shortage of research into punk’s impact on animal rights and environmental activism” (pp. 101-102). Secondly, the themes raised in this essay resonate far beyond the punk scenes from which material is collected: focusing on broader questions of diversity and difference within activist communities, how these differences are managed (even “policed”), the prioritization of certain forms of activism over others, and the role of culture are all issues which cut right to the heart of contemporary activist and community organizing. Thirdly, the topic is of personal importance to the authors, both of whom are writing the essay from the impetus of their own life experiences.’
The chapter mentions:
‘This essay is concerned with the contemporary UK punk scene, so new primary information collected from interviews by both authors forms the main basis for analysis. All the interviews were carried out in the UK from August 2013 to January 2014 and cover a period of involvement in punk stretching from the late 1970s to the present.’
And:
”When Last Hours (2006) zine attempted to compile a “Punk Rock Census” they found that 54.6 percent of the 306 respondents were either vegan or vegetarian, as compared to less than three percent of the total UK population (VegSoc).’
or vegetarian, as compared to less than three percent of the total UK popu-lation (VegSoc).
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