The modern science of life, i.e. biology, does not exclusively deal with botany and zoology. It is also related to anthropology. Such a relationship is of practical value in medicine: animal experiments, blood and serum research and much more has to be mentioned, with Steinach’s transplants of gonads from primates into humans perhaps the topic of the day.
Modern psychology, based on experimental psychology, also does not deal exclusively with humans any more. It uses the same methods in animal research and we have a comparative anatomic-zootomic research resulting in instructive comparisons between the human and the animal soul. Indeed, even the beginning of a psychology of plants is emerging – the best known representatives are G. Th. Fechner in the past and R. H. Francé and Ad. Wagner at present, – so that modern psychology includes all living beings in its research. Given these facts, it is only consequent when R. Eisler in conclusion talks about Bio-Psychics [Bio-Psychik].
From Biopsychics it is only one step to Bio-Ethics [Bio-Ethik], i.e. to the assumption of ethical responsibilities not only towards humans but towards all living beings. In fact, bioethics is not quite a discovery of the present. Already the theologian Schleiermacher calls it unethical to destroy life and formation, as they are, without a reasonable purpose, i.e. also the animal and the plant. And even earlier the poet Herder requested humans to consider themselves to be in the place of other creatures in the image of the all-present feeling of the divine, to identify and to feel with each living being as much as they need it…