Animals and society Books

Book SynopsisAnimals and Science examines the debates, from the Renaissance to the present, surrounding issues of animal rights, consciousness, and self-awareness.Animals and Science examines what science has (and has not) taught us about the nature of nonhuman animals and explores the moral, religious, social, and scientific implications of those teachings. It shows how the scientific study of animals, especially their cognitive abilities, has transformed our understanding of them. Animals and Science traces our evolving understanding of animal pain and considers its moral relevance to humans. It discusses Darwin's belief-shattering notion that species differences are not absolute, then traces its impact to the present day.Ultimately, Animals and Science is about the nature of science—the kinds of questions science can and cannot answer, and the role of theory in shaping the interpretation of evidence. 12 thought-provoking essays trace the evolution of our ideas about animals and their impact on science, medicine, and society The book includes an extensive collection of primary source documents, ranging from Thomas Aquinas' Summa contra Gentiles to Peter Singer's Animal Liberation Trade Review"In this philosophical treatment of the history of humankind's relationship with animals, Shanks provides the broad historical background and ethical framework . . . the reading is a pleasure and the rewards are great." - School Library Journal"[V]ery useful book . . . The writing is clear and interesting . . . Animals in Science will be a valuable addition to any public or academic library." - American Reference Books Annual

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Book SynopsisJonathan Safran Foer meets Jeffrey Moussaieff Mason in a poignant, provocative memoir of  survival, compassion, and awakening to the reality of our food system.Jenny Brown was ten years old when she lost a leg to bone cancer. Throughout the ordeal, her constant companion was a cat named Boogie. Years later, she would make the connection between her feline friend and the farm animals she ate, acknowledging that most of America’s domesticated animals live on industrialized farms, and are viewed as mere production units. Raised in a conservative Southern Baptist family in Kentucky, Brown had been taught to avoid asking questions. But she found her passion and the courage to speak out.The Lucky Ones introduces readers to Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary which Brown established with her husband in 2004. With a cast of unforgettable survivors, including a fugitive slaughterhouse cow named Kayli; Albie, the three-legged goat; and Quincy, an Easter duckling found abandoned in New York City, The Lucky Ones reveals shocking statistics about the prevalence of animal abuse throughout America’s agribusinesses.  Blending wry humor with unflinching honesty, Brown brings a compelling new voice to the healthy-living movement—and to the vulnerable, voiceless creatures among us.

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Book SynopsisA number of factors—new research into human and animal consciousness, a heightened awareness of the methods and consequences of intensive farming, and modern concerns about animal welfare and ecology—have made our relationship to animals an area of burning interest in contemporary philosophy. Utilizing methods inspired by Ludwig Wittgenstein, the contributors to this volume explore this area in a variety of ways. Topics discussed include: * scientific vs. non-scientific ways of describing human and animal behaviour * the ethics of eating particular animal species * human nature, emotions, and instinctive reactions * responses of wonder towards the natural world * the moral relevance of literature * the concept of dignity * the question of whether non-human animals can use language This book will be of great value to anyone interested in philosophical and interdisciplinary issues concerning language, ethics and humanity's relation to animals and the natural world.Trade ReviewIn sum the anthology is highly recommendable and achieves the aim to offer new ways of thinking about moral conceptual aspects of human-animal relationships, philosophical methodology and advancement of Wittgensteinian topics. -- Yuliya Fadeeva * Ethical Theory and Moral Practice *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction Niklas Forsberg 1. Humanizing Nonhumans: Ape Language Research as Critique of Metaphysics Pär Segerdahl 2. Ethics and Language: What We Owe to Speakers David Cockburn 3. The Difficulty of Language: Wittgenstein on Animals and Humans Nancy E. Baker 4. Rape among the Panorpidae, Spouse Abuse among the Mantis Religiosa, and Other 'Reproductive Strategies' in the Animal and Human World Olli Lagerspetz 5. Three Perspectives on Altruism Ylva Gustafsson 6. Talking about Emotion Camilla Kronqvist 7. Man as a Moral Animal: Moral Language-Games, Certainty, and the Emotions Julia Hermann 8. Living with Animals, Living as an Animal Anne Le Goff 9. What's Wrong with a Bite of Dog? Rami Gudovitch 10. Second Nature and Animal Life Stefano Di Brisco 11. Wittgenstein, Wonder and Attention to Animals Mikel Burley 12. Honour, Dignity and the Realm of Meaning Nora Hämäläinen 13. W. G. Sebald and the Ethics of Narrative Alice Crary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisHow did the early Christians manage to establish a religion and institution which, despite persecution, flourished and grew? How did their initial experience of being a despised minority in the Roman Empire shape their sense of privileged identity and uniqueness? And how was it that - at least at the outset - the first believers were able to exist alongside the same shared traditions, rituals and beliefs of the Jews, despite the Jewish rejection of Jesus as Messiah?The Christian community was born out of paradox: its faith in a man who was also the 'anointed one' (or Christ) of God; and its growth and development often echoed those complex and contradictory origins. Morwenna Ludlow discusses the fragile context as well as the emerging core beliefs of the early Church (including divine creation, salvation, eschatology, the humanity and divinity of Christ and the inter-relationships of the Trinity) between 50-600 CE. She also examines the process of Christian self-definition in response to groups on the edge of the Church, such as Gnostics, Marcionites, Montanists and Manichaeans, as well as in relation to Judaism. Bringing to vivid life the remarkable history of the early Church, in all its conflict and struggle, the author shows why such a successful faith was able to rise out of such improbable and unpromising beginnings.Trade Review'A series such as this is hugely welcome. Its emphasis on the history of ideas, and on the global - not just European - experience of Christianity and its manifestations of church, will be valued by students, scholars and general readers alike. The I.B.Tauris History of the Christian Church brings ecclesiastical history into a new era, for a new generation'. - Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford

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Book Synopsis'Art is continually haunted by the animal', wrote Deleuze and Guattari. Over the past two decades, animals have quite literally invaded the gallery space, from Joseph Beuys' co-habiting with a coyote, Janis Kounelli's instillation of live horses, Damien Hirst's shark in formaldehyde to Mark Dion's natural history displays and Marco Evaristti's 'goldfish in a blender'. In this latest addition to the highly acclaimed 'Art and...' series, Giovanni Aloi surveys the insistent presence of animals in the world of contemporary art, exploring the leading concepts which inform this emerging practice. From exhibitions featuring live animals, to taxidermy, and interspecies communication, Giovanni Aloi explores how animals feature in modern art with a range of thought-provoking and innovative visual representations. Art and Animals challenges ideas of identity, 'otherness' and civilisation by explaining the role animals have occupied in our cultural development and illustrating their presence in the visual arts today.Trade Review'Giovanni Aloi articulately and sensitively unpacks the varied passionate, complex and, at times, questionable motives behind the art world's current embrace of the animal subject. He accomplishes this with erudite, and yet accessible, explanations and perceptions, all the while keeping animals themselves firmly in the reader's mind. Thinking around animals has grown exponentially in the last decade. In this time of environmental crisis the interest in the human relationship with other species has become a focal point for change. Aloi offers us, through artists' engagement with 'the animal' and animals themselves, a mirror in which to see our own struggles with our relationships with the non-human world.' - Carol Gigliotti, Associate Professor, Dynamic Media and Critical and Cultural Studies, Emily Carr University and Editor, Leonardo's Choice: Genetic technologies and animals; 'Jacob von Uexkull once called on biologists, ecologists, and philosophers to take a stroll through the worlds of animals and men and challenged us to see the world through other than human eyes. Contemporary art has taken up Uexkull's call and now challenges us to do the same. Giovanni Aloi leads us on a stroll through the truly stunning world of animal art. Among the menagerie, readers will find themselves immersed in pickled sharks, genetically altered bunnies, taxidermied polar bears and pets re-imagined. It is some comfort to have this book as a companion in approaching such a multivalent field. In Art and Animals Aloi brings to bear his wealth of experience as editor of Antennae: Journal of Nature in Visual Culture. He proves an adept guide in giving his readers ways of framing and re-framing the burgeoning world of animal art without ever feeling that his mastery cheats the richness of the field.' - Ron Broglio, Assistant Professor, Arizona State UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction The Return of a Victorian Obsession: Taxidermy Live Animals in the Gallery Space The Death of the Animal Becoming Animal Animals and Climate Change

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Book SynopsisWhen Richard Ryder coined the term 'speciesism' over two decades ago, the issue of animal rights was very much a minority concern that had associations with crankiness. Today, the animal rights movement is well-established across the globe and continues to gain momentum, with animal experimentation for medical research high on the agenda and very much in the news. This pioneering book - an historical survey of the relationship between humans and non-humans - paved the way for these developments. Revised, updated to include the movement's recent history and available in paperback for the first time, and now introducing Ryder's concept of 'painism', Animal Revolution is essential reading for anyone who cares about animals or humanity. Dr Richard D. Ryder is a psychologist, ethicist, historian and political campaigner. He is also a past chairman of the RSPCA. His other books include Victims of Science: The Use of Animals in Research, The Political Animal: The Conquest of Speciesism and Animal Welfare and the Environment (editor). As Mellon Professor, he taught Animal Welfare at Tulane University.Trade Review'A fascinating account of how animals have been regarded and treated from ancient times to the present day ... Buy this book for the history and the campaigning ... buy it for the psychology and the ideas too. Even if you don't agree with him, Ryder is never less than stimulating.' International Society for Applied Ethology Newsletter 'It would be difficult to find a text that provides a more comprehensive history of man's changing use and relationship to non-human animals.' 'A book full of valuable observations and insights? This book has something important to say and Richard Ryder knows how to say it.' Freethinker (2000) Richard Ryder analyses such springs of human conduct as machismo, stoicism and squeamishness. He has never been afraid to court controversy or to unleash uncomfortable new ideas. This is a bracing book. Times Literary Supplement As an introduction to the history of human exploitation of animals, and the increasingly effective attempts by the enlightened to make amends, this book cannot be bettered. Dr. Robert Garner - University of Leicester

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