Research Catalog

Title

Brute souls, happy beasts, and evolution : the historical status of animals / Rod Preece.

Author

Preece, Rod, 1939-

Publication

Vancouver : UBC Press, c2005.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xiii, 480 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

"In this inquiry into the status of animals in human society from the fifth century BC to the present, Rod Preece provides a wholly new perspective on the human-animal relationship. He skillfully demonstrates that, counter to prevailing intellectual opinion, ethical attitudes toward animals are neither restricted to the twentieth century nor the result of Darwin's theory of evolution. They have been part of Western thought and culture for centuries." "Preece builds a cogent and persuasive argument, challenging current assumptions about the historical status of animals in Western civilization. He dispels the notion that animals were denied ethical consideration by Christian doctrine, refutes the claim that the Cartesian conception of animals as automata was widely embraced, and proves that "theriophily"--The notion of animal superiority over humans - was given greater credence than is commonly recognized. The exhaustive research and breadth of knowledge that Preece reveals in this book are matched by his belief in our ethical responsibilities to animals."--Jacket.

Subject

• Animal Rights > history
• Animal welfare > History
• Animals
• Animals and civilization > History
• Animaux > Histoire
• Animaux et civilisation > Histoire
• Geschichte
• Human-animal relationships
• Relations homme-animal
• Western World > history

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 453-469) and index.

Contents

1. In quest of the soul -- 2. Peripatetic souls -- 3. natural history of animal souls -- 4. Return to nature : the golden age and the happy beast -- 5. Theriophily redivivus -- 6. Symbiosis : animals as means and as ends -- 7. Evolution, chain, and categorical imperative -- 8. Kinship and evolution : the Darwinian myth -- 9. moral status of animals : practical judgment, reasonable partiality, and species needs.

ISBN

0774811560 :

OCLC

60739351

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library