Richard Dean (c. 1727 – 8 February 1778) was an English Anglican minister and early animal rights writer.
[1] In addition to being an Anglican minister, Dean was schoolmaster of Middleton grammar school.
Dean believed that animals had a sentient principle or soul and that and a loving God would not have created animals subject to pain if he had not intended to compensate their suffering with a future existence.
[5] Dean argued against the Cartesian view that animals were mere machines.
During his time not many writers held this view; however, Dean did acknowledge the work of John Hildrop.