Research Catalog

Title

Animals, emotions & morality : marking the boundary / B.A. Dixon.

Author

Dixon, B. A. (Beth A.), 1957-

Publication

Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

281 pages; 23 cm

Summary

"It seems obvious that animals have emotions. Dogs bark with excitement when their masters return home, cats hiss aggressively at the approach of a stranger, and even wild chimps exhibit empathy toward one another. Our ordinary ways of talking about animals suggest that animals and humans are emotional kin." "In this fascinating exploration of our emotional kinship with animals, philosopher B. A. Dixon invites the reader to consider what is philosophically controversial about the idea that animals have emotions. Dixon guides the reader through a jungle of philosophical issues related to the concept of emotion and the various ways in which emotions are morally significant. She demonstrates that claims about animal emotion often stand in for a more fundamental property it is believed that animals and humans share - namely, morality." "Scholars as well as the general public will enjoy the stories and anecdotes about animals in each chapter that initiate the author's philosophical analyses."--BOOK JACKET.

Alternative Title

Animals, emotions and morality

Subject

• Emotions in animals
• Psychology, Comparative
• Ethics

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-274) and index.

Contents

Ch. 1. Introduction -- Some Questions -- Emotional Kinship -- The Moral Kinship Hypothesis -- Morally Laden Emotions -- Evaluating the Moral Kinship Hypothesis -- Methodology -- Telling Tales -- Marking the Boundary -- Ch. 2. Emotional Kinship -- Animals Are Like Us -- Eudaimonistic Emotions -- Wild with Grief -- A Barnyard Tale of Friendship and Loss -- Dying of Grief -- Conclusion -- Ch. 3. Emotions and Moral Virtue -- Compassionate Animals -- What Is Compassion? -- What Is Moral Virtue? -- Why Are the Virtues Morally Good? -- What Is the Right Motivation? -- Thick and Thin -- Conclusion -- Ch. 4. Evolutionary Continuity -- Darwin's Stories -- The Continuity Thesis -- Criticisms of the Continuity Thesis -- The Unity of Psychology -- Conclusion -- Ch. 5. The Good Chimp -- Stories - Lending a Hand -- The Nature of Morality -- The Nature of Emotions -- Anthropomorphism -- Conclusion -- Ch. 6. Children and Animals -- Childhood Animality -- A Puzzle about the Reactive Attitudes -- The Rationality Condition - Reflective Self-Control -- Morally Appraising Children -- The Intentionality Condition - Voluntary Action -- Conclusion -- Ch. 7. Bad Wolves -- Story - The Loop -- Blaming -- Sharing "Simple" Emotions -- The Moral Responsibility of Trained Animals -- Conclusion -- Ch. 8. Stories -- The Problem of Methodology -- The Role of Fancy -- The Limits of Fancy -- Reading for Context -- The Value of Animal Stories -- Conclusion -- Ch. 9. Marking the Boundary -- Summary of the Argument -- Other Philosophical Approaches -- Human Uniqueness without Superiority.

ISBN

• 9781591026297 (pbk.)
• 1591026296 (pbk.)

LCCN

• 2008016532
• 40015952319

OCLC

• ocn179808098
• 179808098
• SCSB-5435680

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries