Andrew Billing, "Animal Rhetoric and Natural Science in Eighteenth-century Liberal Political Writing" (Routledge, 2023)

Feb 4, 2026

Andrew Billing, Professor of French and Francophone Studies and author of Animal Rhetoric and Natural Science, explores how Rousseau, Diderot, La Mettrie, Quesnay, and Rétif weave animal imagery with Enlightenment science. He traces political zoology, Buffon’s influence, debates on anthropomorphism, machine metaphors in physiology and politics, and animal roles in economics, morality, and utopian fiction.

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ANECDOTE

Derrida Seminar Sparked The Book

Andrew Billing recounts attending Jacques Derrida's seminar at Irvine on 'the beast and the sovereign' during his PhD research on Rousseau.
That experience directly inspired him to expand his dissertation into the broader book project.

insights

INSIGHT

Origins Of The Project

Andrew Billing traced his interest in animal rhetoric from doctoral work on Rousseau and Derrida's seminar on the beast and the sovereign.
He expanded the project to include Diderot, La Mettrie, Quesnay, and Rétif to study a shared political zoology.

insights

INSIGHT

What Political Zoology Means

Billing defines "political zoology" as the 18th-century French fusion of political thought and emerging zoology, influenced by Buffon and Derrida's concept of zoopolitics.
He argues this period produced a distinctive scientificized political zoology rather than inventing animal rhetoric itself.

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Origins of the Project

00:47 • 1min

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Corpus Selection and Buffon

02:08 • 3min

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Defining Political Zoology

05:26 • 3min

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Anthropomorphism and Empirical Science

08:28 • 3min

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La Mettrie: Machine, Physiology, Politics

Perfectibility and Moral Sentiments

17:46 • 4min

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Quesnay and the Animal Economy

21:30 • 7min

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Diderot: Animals, Morality, Politics

28:08 • 7min

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Politics of Organs and Molecules

35:09 • 5min

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Rousseau's Animal References

39:55 • 5min

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Rétif's Utopian Novel and Empire

Elements de physiologie

Denis Diderot

Éléments de physiologie is a work by French philosopher Denis Diderot. The book explores Diderot's materialist and mechanistic views of the human body and mind. Diderot examines the functions of the various organs and systems of the body, and he argues that all human thought and behavior can be explained in terms of physical processes. The book was not published during Diderot's lifetime, and it was not widely read until the 20th century.

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Histoire Naturelle

Pline L'Ancien

L'Histoire naturelle de Pline l'Ancien est une encyclopédie monumentale du monde naturel, couvrant une vaste gamme de sujets, des animaux et des plantes aux minéraux et aux phénomènes célestes. Rédigée au 1er siècle après J.-C. , elle témoigne des connaissances scientifiques de l'époque romaine. L'ouvrage est divisé en 37 livres et présente une compilation d'informations tirées de nombreuses sources, souvent sans distinction critique entre les faits et les légendes. Malgré ses imperfections, l'Histoire naturelle reste une source précieuse pour comprendre la vision du monde antique et les connaissances scientifiques de l'époque. Son influence a perduré pendant des siècles, contribuant à la transmission du savoir scientifique.

Animal Rhetoric and Natural Science in 18th Century Liberal Political Writing

Political Zoologies of the French Enlightenment

Andrew Billing

Animal Rhetoric and Natural Science in Eighteenth-century Liberal Political Writing shows how our tendency to read French Enlightenment political writing from a narrow disciplinary perspective has obscured the hybrid character of political philosophy, rhetoric, and natural science in the period. As Michèle Duchet and others have shown, French Enlightenment thinkers developed a philosophical anthropology to support new political norms and models. This book explores how five important eighteenth-century French political authors—Rousseau, Diderot, La Mettrie, Quesnay, and Rétif de La Bretonne—also constructed a "political zoology" in their philosophical and literary writings informed by animal references drawn from Enlightenment natural history, science, and physiology. Drawing on theoretical work by Derrida, Latour, de Fontenay, and others, it shows how these five authors signed on to the old rhetorical tradition of animal comparisons in political philosophy, which they renewed via the findings and speculations of contemporary science. Engaging with recent scholarship on Enlightenment political thought, it also explores the links between their political zoologies and their family resemblance as "liberal" political thinkers.

#124

• Mentioned in 142 episodes

Confessions

Augustine

Written in Latin between AD 397 and 400, 'Confessions' is a blend of autobiography, philosophy, theology, and critical exegesis of the Christian Bible. The first nine books are autobiographical, tracing Augustine's life from his birth to his conversion to Catholicism. He recounts his sinful youth, his involvement with Manicheism and Neoplatonism, and his eventual conversion in a Milanese garden. The last four books focus on philosophical and theological issues, including memory, time, eternity, and the interpretation of the Book of Genesis. The work is structured as a series of prayers to God, reflecting Augustine's journey of redemption and his understanding of God's grace and providence.

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Nicolas Edme Restif de la Bretonne

La Découverte Australe par un homme volant, ou le Dédale Français (The Discovery of the Southern Continent by a Flying Man, or the French Daedalus) is a utopian novel by Nicolas-Edme Restif de la Bretonne, published in 1781. The novel tells the story of Victorin, a young man who invents a pair of mechanical wings and flies to the Southern Continent, where he discovers a utopian society. Restif presents a vision of a society based on reason, equality, and natural law. The novel is also notable for its depiction of a number of unusual and fantastical creatures.

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Dans le 'Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes', Jean-Jacques Rousseau examine l'évolution de l'homme de l'état de nature à la société civile, mettant en lumière les inégalités croissantes. Rousseau postule que l'homme à l'état de nature est libre, égal et guidé par l'instinct de conservation et la pitié. L'introduction de la propriété privée marque le début de l'inégalité et de la compétition. La société, avec ses lois et ses institutions, consolide ces inégalités et aliène l'homme de sa nature originelle. Rousseau appelle à une réforme sociale pour réduire les inégalités et promouvoir une société plus juste et égalitaire.

The beast and the sovereign

Jacques Derrida

The Beast and the Sovereign, Volume I is a collection of lectures given by Jacques Derrida at the University of Paris between 2001 and 2002. In this series, Derrida examines the philosophical and political implications of the relationship between the human and the animal, and between sovereignty and animality. The lectures explore the ways in which Western thought has traditionally defined the human in opposition to the animal, and how this opposition has been used to justify various forms of domination and violence. Derrida also examines the concept of sovereignty, and how it is linked to the idea of the human as a rational and autonomous being.

Animal Rhetoric and Natural Science in Eighteenth-century Liberal Political Writing: Political Zoologies of the French Enlightenment (Routledge, 2024) shows how our tendency to read French Enlightenment political writing from a narrow disciplinary perspective has obscured the hybrid character of political philosophy, rhetoric, and natural science in the period. As Michèle Duchet and others have shown, French Enlightenment thinkers developed a philosophical anthropology to support new political norms and models. This book explores how five important eighteenth-century French political authors—Rousseau, Diderot, La Mettrie, Quesnay, and Rétif de La Bretonne—also constructed a "political zoology" in their philosophical and literary writings informed by animal references drawn from Enlightenment natural history, science, and physiology. Drawing on theoretical work by Derrida, Latour, de Fontenay, and others, it shows how these five authors signed on to the old rhetorical tradition of animal comparisons in political philosophy, which they renewed via the findings and speculations of contemporary science. Engaging with recent scholarship on Enlightenment political thought, it also explores the links between their political zoologies and their family resemblance as "liberal" political thinkers.

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