In antiquity, the Platonic philosopher Plutarch had already launched a major indictment against meat-eaters. He believed that eating meat was a matter of culinary pleasure, not a necessity for survival: as omnivores, humans can nourish themselves as they see fit. In De esu carnium, Plutarch states: "We have no reason to kill in order to eat."

When we lose our bearings, when values are reversed, and when civilization is going through intense turbulence, it is always relevant to return to the works of the Ancients, to the very origins of what founded our humanities. The thought of Empedocles, diverse and abundant, gives us in particular a key to understanding our era of hatred — and also of awakening!