Free eBooks Animal Lessons: How They Teach Us To Be Human Available To Downloads
Philosophy reads humanity against animality, arguing that "man" is man because he is separate from beast. Deftly challenging this position, Kelly Oliver proves that, in fact, it is the animal that teaches us to be human. Through their sex, their habits, and our perception of their purpose, animals show us how not to be them. This kinship plays out in a number of ways. We sacrifice animals to establish human kinship, but without the animal, the bonds of "brotherhood" fall apart. Either kinship with animals is possible or kinship with humans is impossible. Philosophy holds that humans and animals are distinct, but in defending this position, the discipline depends on a discourse that relies on the animal for its very definition of the human. Through these and other examples, Oliver does more than just establish an animal ethics. She transforms ethics by showing how its very origin is dependent upon the animal. Examining for the first time the treatment of the animal in the work of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida, Agamben, Freud, Lacan, and Kristeva, among others, Animal Lessons argues that the animal bites back, thereby reopening the question of the animal for philosophy.
Paperback: 376 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press (October 8, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0231147279
ISBN-13: 978-0231147279
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #70 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Movements > Structuralism #224 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Movements > Deconstruction #500 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Animal Rights
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in animal ethics. Like many, I became interested in topics of animal rights and animal ethics after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation. Although I agree with Singer that our exploitation of animals is unwarranted, I am not a utilitarian, and I don't think pain/pleasure should be the primary measure for our ethical relationship with other creatures. To me, Kelly Oliver's Animal Lessons is interesting and refreshing because, unlike other books on animal ethics, the author does not rely on the language of "interests," "rights," or "speciesism" in her arguments. (In fact, Part I of the book is devoted to the problems and limitations of the rights discourse. I believe every animal rights activist should read Part I--perhaps it's time to reconsider the rhetoric and strategy of the animal "rights" movement!)I will not rehearse the arguments of the book here. But the main thesis the author is advancing is that animals are our teachers. She demonstrates her thesis by examining the philosophical work of various thinkers (including Rousseau, Freud, Heidegger, Kristeva, and Derrida), and she shows both that animals figure prominently in their work and that, in an important sense, philosophers rely on animals to learn what it means to be human. I think her thesis is instructive to those of us who want to challenge the structure of animal exploitation in our society. Specifically, it's not enough to focus on what "rights" animals have against us humans, as if we could relate to animals only in a competitive way.
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