Simone Weil once wrote that "the vulnerability of precious things is beautiful because vulnerability is a mark of existence," establishing a relationship between vulnerability, beauty, and existence transcending the separation of species. Her conception of a radical ethics and aesthetics could be characterized as a new poetics of species, forcing a rethinking of the body's significance, both human and animal. Exploring the "logic of flesh" and the use of the body to mark species identity, Anat Pick reimagines a poetics that begins with the vulnerability of bodies, not the omnipotence of thought. Pick proposes a "creaturely" approach based on the shared embodiedness of humans and animals and a postsecular perspective on human-animal relations. She turns to literature, film, and other cultural texts, challenging the familiar inventory of the human: consciousness, language, morality, and dignity. Reintroducing Weil's elaboration of such themes as witnessing, commemoration, and collective memory, Pick identifies the animal within all humans, emphasizing the corporeal and its issues of power and freedom. In her poetics of the creaturely, powerlessness is the point at which aesthetic and ethical thinking must begin.

New Approaches to the Archaeology of Beekeeping aims to take a holistic view of beekeeping archaeology (including honey, wax, and associated products, hive construction, and participants in this trade) in one large interconnected geographic region, the Mediterranean, central Europe, and the Atlantic Facade. Current interest in beekeeping is growing because of the precipitous decline of bees worldwide and the disastrous effect it portends for global agriculture. As a result, all aspects of beekeeping in all historical periods are coming under closer scrutiny. The volume focuses on novel approaches to historical beekeeping but also offers new applications of more established ways of treating apicultural material from the past. It is also keenly interested in helping readers navigate the challenges inherent in studying beekeeping historically. The volume brings together scholars working on ancient, medieval, early modern, and ethnographic evidence of beekeeping from a variety of perspectives. In this sense it will serve as a handbook for current researchers in this field and for those who wish to undertake research into the archaeology of beekeeping.

Animals have shaped the cultural and economic life of Glasgow through the ages, and many statues and other memorials around the city honour the role played by animals in the city's history. Horses were central to Glasgow's massive expansion in the nineteenth century, moving goods in and out of the city, and their sight, sound and smell were an integral part of the life of the city well into the 1950s. For centuries they were the main means of transport, whether as saddle horses or pulling vehicles, or for the military at the cavalry barracks in the Gorbals, and myriad trades depended on the horses, including saddlers, harness makers, grooms, fodder suppliers, horse trainers, riding schools, horse dealers and farriers. Equestrian events were a regular feature at theatres and fairs and gradually developed into circuses and such events as Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows. Performing animals were seen in the city for centuries and menageries of exotic animals toured Glasgow from the late eighteenth century onwards, followed by circuses, bringing the largest elephants to the smallest flea circus. After several attempts, a permanent zoo finally opened in Glasgow in 1947 but closed 2003. As the population grew, domestic pet ownership grew too, including racing pigeons, and numerous dog and cat shows became established. Whippet racing was a popular pastime a century ago, with illegal betting, but was gradually replaced by greyhound racing where betting on-track was legal. In Beastly Glasgow, author Barclay Price takes the reader on a fascinating exploration of the city's animal associations through the ages. Full of unusual tales and fascinating facts, this well-researched history will introduce readers to the beguiling history of Glasgow's animals.

How much do animals matter--morally? Can we keep considering them as second class beings, to be used merely for our benefit? Or, should we offer them some form of moral egalitarianism? Inserting itself into the passionate debate over animal rights, this fascinating, provocative work by renowned scholar Paola Cavalieri advances a radical proposal: that we extend basic human rights to the nonhuman animals we currently treat as "things."
Cavalieri first goes back in time, tracing the roots of the debate from the 1970s, then explores not only the ethical but also the scientific viewpoints, examining the debate's precedents in mainstream Western philosophy. She considers the main proposals of reform that recently have been advanced within the framework of today's prevailing ethical perspectives. Are these proposals satisfying? Cavalieri says no, claiming that it is necessary to go beyond the traditional opposition between utilitarianism and Kantianism and focus on the question of fundamental moral protection. In the case of human beings, such protection is granted within the widely shared moral doctrine of universal human rights' theory. Cavalieri argues that if we examine closely this theory, we will discover that its very logic extends to nonhuman animals as beings who are owed basic moral and legal rights and that, as a result, human rights are not human after all.

'A do-er, not a dreamer, Gow has become one of our most outspoken rewilders.' Countryfile Magazine 'In this warm and funny autobiography, [Gow] writes with a whimsical fluency about the moments of humour and pathos in an unusual life.' Country Life 'Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside.' Guardian 'Courageous, visionary, funny.' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding Tearing down fences literally and metaphorically, Birds, Beasts and Bedlam recounts the adventures of Britain's most colourful rewilder, Derek Gow. How he raised a sofa-loving wild boar piglet, transported a raging bison bull across the UK, got bitten by a Scottish wildcat and restored the ancient white stork to the Knepp Estate with Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree. After a Shetland ewe captured a young Derek's heart, he grew up to become a farmer with a passion for ancient breeds. But when he realised how many of our species were close to extinction, even on his own land, he tore up his traditional Devon farm and transformed it into a rewilding haven for beavers, water voles, lynx, wildcats, harvest mice and more. Birds, Beasts and Bedlam is the story of a rewilding maverick and his single-minded mission to save our wildlife.

Animal lovers who feed meat to other animals are faced with a paradox: perhaps fewer animals would be harmed if they stopped feeding the ones they love. Animal diets do not raise problems merely for individuals. To address environmental crises, health threats, and harm to animals, we must change our food systems and practices. And in these systems, animals, too, are eaters. Moving beyond what humans should eat and whether to count animals as food, Just Fodder answers ethical and political questions arising from thinking about animals as eaters. Josh Milburn begins with practical dilemmas about feeding the animals closest to us, our pets or animal companions. The questions grow more complicated as he considers relationships with more distance - questions about whether and how to feed garden birds, farmland animals who would eat our crops, and wild animals. Milburn evaluates the nature and circumstances of our relationships with animals to generate a novel theory of animal rights. Looking past arguments about what we can and cannot do to other beings, Just Fodder asks what we can, should, and must do for them, laying out a fuller range of our ethical obligations to other animals.

"If veganism is about doing your best to not harm any sentient life, we must logically extend that circle of compassion to human animals as well," writes Mark Hawthorne in this practical, engaging guide to veganism and animal rights. Along with proven advice for going and staying vegan, an overview of animal exploitation, and answers to common questions about ethical eating (such as "Isn't 'humane meat' a good option?" and "Don't plants feel pain?"), A Vegan Ethic draws on the work and experiences of intersectional activists to examine how all forms of oppression - including racism, sexism, ableism, and speciesism - are connected by privilege, control, and economic power. By recognizing how social justice issues overlap, we can develop collaborative strategies for finding solutions.

From the lazy, fiddling grasshopper to the sneaky Big Bad Wolf, children's stories and fables enchant us with their portrayals of animals who act like people. But the comparisons run both ways, as metaphors, stories, and images--as well as scientific theories--throughout history remind us that humans often act like animals, and that the line separating them is not as clear as we'd like to pretend.
Here Martin Kemp explores a stunning range of images and ideas to demonstrate just how deeply these underappreciated links between humans and other fauna are embedded in our culture. Tracing those interconnections among art, science, and literature, Kemp leads us on a dazzling tour of Western thought, from Aristotelian physiognomy and its influence on phrenology to the Great Chain of Being and Darwinian evolution. We learn about the racist anthropology underlying a familiar Degas sculpture, see paintings of a remarkably simian Judas, and watch Mowgli, the man-child from Kipling's "The Jungle Book," exhibit the behaviors of the beasts who raised him. Like a kaleidoscope, Kemp uses these stories to refract, reconfigure, and echo the essential truth that the way we think about animals inevitably inflects how we think about people, and vice versa.
Loaded with vivid illustrations and drawing on sources from Hesiod to La Fontaine, Leonardo to P. T. Barnum, "The Human Animal in Western Art and Science" is a fascinating, eye-opening reminder of our deep affinities with our fellow members of the animal kingdom.

Varner challenges the assumption that animal rights theory and anthropocentric views are at odds with each other. He attempts to reconcile them by arguing that every living organism has interests which ought to be protected, but that some interests--particularly those belonging to sentient animals with conscious desires--are more important than others. The author is not unduly influenced by radical or conservative environmental positions and effectively establishes an individualistic and accessible framework that will be given credence by both camps. In Nature's Interests? is a necessary read for any serious environmental philosopher and is a valuable addition to the current literature on moral considerability.

Mary Anne Warren investigates a theoretical question that is at the centre of practical and professional ethics: what are the criteria for having moral status? That is: what does it take to be an entity towards which people have moral considerations? Warren argues that no single property will do as a sole criterion, and puts forward seven basic principles which establish moral status. She then applies these principles to three controversial moral issues: voluntary euthanasia, abortion, and the status of non-human animals.

As seen on Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch! No Life Too Small is the joyful and inspiring story of the world's first animal hospice, celebrating the power and beauty of nature, the strength of the human and animal spirit, and the importance of love, friendship and community. It will leave you with a tear in your eye, a smile on your face and a renewed belief in human kindness. A few years ago Alexis Fleming was bedridden with a chronic illness. Things became so bad that she wanted to end her life many times during this period - but her beloved dog, Maggie, kept her going, especially when doctors gave her just six weeks to live. Incredibly, Alexis fought her way back to health with Maggie by her side, only for Maggie to die of lung cancer two years later on a vet's operating table. Alexis was devastated that Maggie had died without her and decided to start an animal hospice in her name in the hope that she could ensure other animals nearing the end of their life would not have to die alone. Six months later, the Maggie Fleming Animal Hospice was launched. Alexis has turned a dilapidated farm in rural Scotland into a haven for animals to live out their last days in comfort and at peace. With the help of the local community, despite many challenges, the hospice came to life. Meanwhile , Alexis' own health was deteriorating again and she needed life-threatening surgery. Alexis came through the operation and the road to her recovery was paved with companionship from the animals in her care, particularly Bran, a dog who had been dumped with terminal cancer and given six weeks. He recovered alongside Alexis and went on to live for two more years. Dogs, however old and mangy, chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, cockerels and even turkeys : The Maggie Fleming Hospice is a place where all manner of terminally-ill, abandoned animals come to live out their last days in comfort and are treated with love. Looking after dying animals has taught Alexis what really matters in life - kindness, compassion and love.

This thought-provoking book will ask what it is to be human, what to be animal, and what are the natures of the relationships between them. This is accomplished with philosophical and ethical discussions, scientific evidence and dynamic theoretical approaches. Attitudes to Animals will also encourage us to think not only of our relationships to non-human animals, but also of those to other, human, animals. This book provides a foundation that the reader can use to make ethical choices about animals. It will challenge readers to question their current views, attitudes and perspectives on animals, nature and development of the human-animal relationship. Human perspectives on the human-animal relationships reflect what we have learned, together with spoken and unspoken attitudes and assumptions, from our families, societies, media, education and employment.