Consider the Oyster: The Bivalve Shellfish in Early Modern Metaphysics

Various early modern philosophers contested the nature, dignity, and powers of the oyster, including Montaigne, Cavendish, Locke, Hume, Reid, and Lichtenberg. This paper presents a conspectus of the debate. The author—who sometimes seems to get the wrong end of the stick—documents the major texts and advances an interpretation of the main lines of controversy.