GIOVANNA PEREZ ALTIERI

The research focuses on the study of the antivivisection debate that occurred in the late 19th century Britain. The purpose of this work is to apply the episode as a case study for historical and ethical analyses, mainly about animal ethics. The antivivisection debate is known as a series of events in which there was a dispute about the legitimacy of vivisection. This debate divided the scientific community and the Victorian society itself into supporters and opponents of vivisection. The events involve the increase of experimental research with living animals, which was connect with the expansion of experimental physiology; also, new results derived of the experimental method in the fields of medicine and biology; a series of protests; the creation of antivivisection societies; and the public dispute between the two groups through scientific periodicals, letters, and conferences. Thus, the purpose of this research is the historical reconstruction of the events that set the debate and to analyze the arguments for and against the vivisection. Furthermore, the objective is to identify the presence of ethical values in a scientific controversy and to discuss theories of animal ethics.