„Duszny” zwierzyniec jako obraz człowieka Platona

Animal metaphors have been often used in European culture. Philosophers have used them since antiquity. Animals illustrate thoughts and arguments in their writings. Plato includes an almost complete zoological garden in his dialogues. There are both domestic and wild animals, employed for literary, psychological, didactic or educational reasons. The most famous animal, however, is the tortoise, well known from Zeno of Elea’s defense of the Parmenidean doctrines. The tortoise has been used in the writings of prominent philosophers such as Aristotle, Shaftesbury, Locke, Leibniz, Bergson and Russell.