Without Animals Life Is Not Worth Living
Without Animals Life Is Not Worth Living

Author: Freya Mathews

Publisher:

Published: 2016-02-15

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 9781760410926

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Without Animals Life Is Not Worth Living, eco-philosopher Freya Mathews livens up her theme - that the company of animals is indispensable to human existence - by way of the story of an anarchic but irresistible pig. 'In this captivating story of a pig and a philosopher, Freya takes up the narratival mode of exposition that has recently engaged philosophers. Her account of Pookie tells of a human person's love across a huge species boundary. Few pigs have been so fondly and respectfully brought into print. Freya's philosophical commitment to truth leads her into unfashionable conclusions: pigs are not particularly intelligent, she tells us. On the basis of life with Pookie, she finds pigs to be determined, focussed and insistent, but not demonstrably smart. Having made that point, Freya goes on to provide a vivid account of Pookie's actual sentience: her sense of self, her joy, her determination, her later dejection, and her capacity for remembrance.' - Deborah Bird Rose

Examined Life
Examined Life

Author: Robert Nozick

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1990-12-15

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 0671725017

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An exploration of topics of everyday importance in the Socratic tradition.

Animal Rights Without Liberation
Animal Rights Without Liberation

Author: Alasdair Cochrane

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2012-08-21

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0231504438

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Alasdair Cochrane introduces an entirely new theory of animal rights grounded in their interests as sentient beings. He then applies this theory to different and underexplored policy areas, such as genetic engineering, pet-keeping, indigenous hunting, and religious slaughter. In contrast to other proponents of animal rights, Cochrane claims that because most sentient animals are not autonomous agents, they have no intrinsic interest in liberty. As such, he argues that our obligations to animals lie in ending practices that cause their suffering and death and do not require the liberation of animals. Cochrane's "interest-based rights approach" weighs the interests of animals to determine which is sufficient to impose strict duties on humans. In so doing, Cochrane acknowledges that sentient animals have a clear and discernable right not to be made to suffer and not to be killed, but he argues that they do not have a prima facie right to liberty. Because most animals possess no interest in leading freely chosen lives, humans have no moral obligation to liberate them. Moving beyond theory to the practical aspects of applied ethics, this pragmatic volume provides much-needed perspective on the realities and responsibilities of the human-animal relationship.

The Life You Can Save
The Life You Can Save

Author: Peter Singer

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0812981561

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Argues that for the first time in history we're in a position to end extreme poverty throughout the world, both because of our unprecedented wealth and advances in technology, therefore we can no longer consider ourselves good people unless we give more to the poor. Reprint.

Fellow Creatures
Fellow Creatures

Author: Christine Marion Korsgaard

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 0198753853

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Presents a compelling new view of our moral relationships to the other animals

The Outermost House
The Outermost House

Author: Henry Beston

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2024-01-01

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 1504081714

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The classic nature memoir of Cape Cod in the early twentieth century, “written with simplicity, sympathy, and beauty” (New York Herald Tribune). When Henry Beston returned home from World War I, he sought refuge and healing at a house on the outer beach of Cape Cod. He was so taken by the natural beauty of his surroundings that his two-week stay extended into a yearlong solitary adventure. He spent his time trying to capture in words the wonders of the magical landscape he found himself in thrall to. In The Outermost House, Beston chronicles his experiences observing the migrations of seabirds, the rhythms of the tide, the windblown dunes, and the scatter of stars in the changing summer sky. Beston argued: “The world today is sick to its thin blood for the lack of elemental things, for fire before the hands, for water, for air, for the dear earth itself underfoot.” Nearly a century after publication, Beston’s words are more true than ever.

Socratic Puzzles
Socratic Puzzles

Author: Robert Nozick

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 9780674816534

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

One of the foremost philosophers of our time, Robert Nozick continues the Socratic tradition of investigation. This volume, which illustrates the originality, force, and scope of his work, also displays Nozick's trademark blending of extraordinary analytical rigor with intellectual playfulness. As such, Socratic Puzzles testifies to the great pleasure that both doing and reading philosophy can be. Comprising essays and philosophical fictions, classics and new work, the book ranges from Socrates to W. V. Quine, from the implications of an Israeli kibbutz to the flawed arguments of Ayn Rand. Nozick considers the figure of Socrates himself as well as the Socratic method (why is it a "method" of getting at the truth?). Many of these essays bring classic methods to bear on new questions about choice. How should you choose in a disconcerting situation ("Newcomb's Problem") when your decisions are completely predictable? Why do threats and not offers typically coerce our choices? How do we make moral judgments when we realize that our moral principles have exceptions? Other essays present new approaches to familiar intellectual puzzles, from the stress on simplicity in scientific hypotheses to the tendency of intellectuals to oppose capitalism. As up to date as the latest reflections on animal rights; as perennial as the essentials of aesthetic merit (doggerel by Isaac Newton goes to prove that changing our view of the world won't suffice); as whimsical as a look at how some philosophical problems might appear from God's point of view: these essays attest to the timeliness and timelessness of Nozick's thinking. With a personal introduction, in which Nozick discusses the origins, tools, and themes of his work, Socratic Puzzles demonstrates how philosophy can constitute a way of life.

Animal Lives and Why They Matter
Animal Lives and Why They Matter

Author: Arne Johan Vetlesen

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-10-25

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1000736040

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book engages with the changing ways in which we, as a society and culture, look upon and interact with animals, stressing how much animals differ among themselves. An invitation to appreciate the peculiar role of animals in telling important if uncomfortable truths about who we are and where we are heading – namely, towards a world so much poorer in cultural, moral, and biological diversity – as a result of the ongoing decimation of so many other species. Drawing on a variety of thought ranging from that of Midgley, Plumwood, and Murdoch to Levinas, Derrida, and Habermas, from ecophilosophers to conservation biologists, Animal Lives and Why They Matter asks how we have come to this, and what an alternative, less destructive approach to our now precarious coexistence with animals might look like. Spanning the disciplines of philosophy, psychology, and anthropology, this enquiry into various cross-species relationships and encounters will appeal to scholars and students across the humanities and social sciences with interests in philosophy, ethics, human-animal interaction, and environmental thought.

The Other End of the Leash
The Other End of the Leash

Author: Patricia McConnell, Ph.D.

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: 2009-02-19

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0307489183

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Learn to communicate with your dog—using their language “Good reading for dog lovers and an immensely useful manual for dog owners.”—The Washington Post An Applied Animal Behaviorist and dog trainer with more than twenty years’ experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell reveals a revolutionary new perspective on our relationship with dogs—sharing insights on how “man’s best friend” might interpret our behavior, as well as essential advice on how to interact with our four-legged friends in ways that bring out the best in them. After all, humans and dogs are two entirely different species, each shaped by its individual evolutionary heritage. Quite simply, humans are primates and dogs are canids (as are wolves, coyotes, and foxes). Since we each speak a different native tongue, a lot gets lost in the translation. This marvelous guide demonstrates how even the slightest changes in our voices and in the ways we stand can help dogs understand what we want. Inside you will discover: • How you can get your dog to come when called by acting less like a primate and more like a dog • Why the advice to “get dominance” over your dog can cause problems • Why “rough and tumble primate play” can lead to trouble—and how to play with your dog in ways that are fun and keep him out of mischief • How dogs and humans share personality types—and why most dogs want to live with benevolent leaders rather than “alpha wanna-bes!” Fascinating, insightful, and compelling, The Other End of the Leash is a book that strives to help you connect with your dog in a completely new way—so as to enrich that most rewarding of relationships.