science

J. Howard Moore

J. Howard Moore is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand J. Howard Moore rather than just read about it. In short: John Howard Moore (December 4, 1862 – June 17, 1916) was an American zoologist, philosopher, educator, and social reformer. He wrote on animal ethics, ethical vegetarianism, humane education, socialism, temperance, and evolutionary biology.

Key takeaways

J. Howard Moore belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect J. Howard Moore to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of J. Howard Moore from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John Howard Moore (December 4, 1862 – June 17, 1916) was an American zoologist, philosopher, educator, and social reformer. He wrote on animal ethics, ethical vegetarianism, humane education, socialism, temperance, and evolutionary biology. In The Universal Kinship (1906), Moore set out a secular ethic that applied the Golden Rule to all sentient beings and used Darwinian ideas of evolutionary continuity between humans and other animals. Born near Rockville, Indiana, Moore spent much of his youth in Linden, Missouri, and later lived in Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa. He studied at Oskaloosa College, Drake University, and the University of Chicago, where he earned an A.B. in zoology in 1896. During his studies he rejected Christianity, adopted vegetarianism, became a socialist, helped found the university's Vegetarian Eating Club, and won a national oratorical competition on prohibition. He later taught at Crane Technical High School and other schools in Chicago, while publishing books, articles, essays, and pamphlets. Moore was associated with the Chicago Vegetarian Society and the British Humanitarian League. His publications included Why I Am a Vegetarian (1895), Better-World Philosophy (1899), The Universal Kinship (1906), The New Ethics (1907), Ethics and Education (1912), The Law of Biogenesis (1914), and Savage Survivals (1916). His work was read by members of the humanitarian, socialist, and animal protection movements, including Henry S. Salt, Clarence Darrow, Mark Twain, Jack London, and Eugene V. Debs. After years of illness, chronic pain, and depression, Moore died by suicide in Jackson Park, Chicago, in 1916.

Biography

Early life and education John Howard Moore was born on December 4, 1862, near Rockville, Indiana. He was the eldest of the six children of William A. Moore and Mary Moore (née Barger). He had three brothers and two sisters. When Moore was six months old, his family moved to Linden, Missouri. Over the next 30 years, the family moved between Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa. Moore was raised in a Christian household. According to Donna L. Davey, his childhood religious teaching presented humans as having dominion over the Earth and other animals. Moore later wrote that, while growing up on a farm, he hunted and accepted the view that animals existed for human purposes. Moore studied at High Bank School in Linden until the age of 17, then attended a college in Rock Port, Missouri, for one year. He studied at Oskaloosa College in Iowa from 1880 to 1884, but did not graduate. He later attended Drake University. Davey writes that Moore's study of science introduced him to Darwin's theory of evolution, leading him to reject Christianity and to argue for an ethic that did not treat animals as valuable only for their use to humans. Moore also studied law under C. H. Hawkins in Cawker City, Kansas.

Early career

In 1884, Moore was appointed as an examiner for the Board of Teachers in Mitchell County, Kansas. In 1886, he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives and finished last out of five candidates. During this period, he adopted vegetarianism for ethical reasons. In 1889, Moore was employed by the National Lecture Bureau. Newspaper coverage called him the "silver tongue of Kansas", a "youthful Luther", and a speaker known for his oratory and singing voice. In the summer of 1890, he studied voice culture in singing and speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. From 1890 to 1893, Moore lectured in Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa. He also lectured for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

In 1890, Moore published his first pamphlet, A Race of Somnambulists. Davey describes it as a criticism of the treatment of animals for food, sport, and fashion. In the pamphlet, Moore attacked Thanksgiving as a day of gluttony and killing, and argued that the sympathy that had been applied to slavery and women's rights should also be applied to animals. During this period, Moore lived on a farm south of Cawker City and worked as a reporter for The Beloit Daily Call, submitting rural correspondence about local events.

University of Chicago studies and activities

In 1894, Moore entered the University of Chicago with advanced academic standing. He graduated in April 1896 with an A.B. degree in zoology. While studying there, he became a socialist and served as vice president of the university's Prohibition Club. He also co-founded its Vegetarian Eating Club, serving as president in 1895 and as purveyor the following year. In 1895, he won first honors in the Prohibition Club's annual oratory contest with his speech "The Scourge of the Republic". That April, he represented the university at the state prohibition contest in Wheaton, Illinois, where he also won first place. He later won first honors at the national contest in Cleveland. A newspaper profile described Moore as a supporter of women's suffrage.

Chicago Vegetarian Society Moore was a member of the Chicago Vegetarian Society and the British Humanitarian League. Bernard Unti writes that he modeled the Chicago society on the League. In 1895, Moore addressed the Society with a speech later published as Why I Am a Vegetarian and serialized in the Chicago Vegetarian, the Society's journal, in 1897. He argued for solidarity among sentient beings and explained his refusal to eat meat with the statement, "I never want happiness that gives another pain". The address attacked meat consumption as part of a wider pattern in which the interests of some beings were sacrificed for the convenience of others. Favorable reviews appeared in The Phrenological Journal of Science and Health in 1899 and 1900. Laurence Gronlund, a Danish-born American lawyer, lecturer, and political activist, wrote a pamphlet in response titled Why I Am Not a Vegetarian: Why He is Wrong. In reply to Gronlund's critique, Moore asserted that for a carnivore, "every meal is a murder" and argued that explaining why one is "not a vegetarian" is an attempt to justify predation. In 1898, Moore was given a full-page column in the Society's journal, the Chicago Vegetarian.

Teaching career

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

J. Howard Moore: Faculty of Crane Technical High School, Chicago; Moore is seated at center, 1914 — Faculty of Crane Technical High School, Chicago; Moore is seated at center, 1914

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with J. Howard Moore

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what J. Howard Moore claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to J. Howard Moore before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about J. Howard Moore ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of J. Howard Moore

In research: J. Howard Moore appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses J. Howard Moore in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: J. Howard Moore is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1862 births, 1916 deaths, 1916 suicides, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for J. Howard Moore outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study J. Howard Moore in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what J. Howard Moore means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain J. Howard Moore out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is J. Howard Moore in simple terms?

Why does J. Howard Moore matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study J. Howard Moore?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on J. Howard Moore.