Abstract: In his animal chronicles published in 1923 under the title La Vie des bêtes, Louis Pergaud makes the case for observing wild and domestic animals. Then he moves on to refuting received ideas about animal behavior. Finally, his thinking leads him to call into question the existence of a “uniquely human nature” in favor of a reinstated continuity with the animal world. In this, Pergaud is a precursor of contemporary theorists who proclaim “the end of human exceptionalism”.
