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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social issues > Animals & society
Animal ethics is generating growing interest both within academia
and outside it. This book focuses on ethical issues connected to
animals who play an extremely important role in human lives:
companion animals ("pets"), with a special emphasis on dogs and
cats, the animals most often chosen as pets. Companion animals are
both vulnerable to and dependent upon us. What responsibilities do
we owe to them, especially since we have the power and authority to
make literal life-and-death decisions about them? What kinds of
relationships should we have with our companion animals? And what
might we learn from cats and dogs about the nature and limits of
our own morality? The contributors write from a variety of
philosophical perspectives, including utilitarianism, care ethics,
feminist ethics, phenomenology, and the genealogy of ideas. The
eighteen chapters are divided into two sections, to provide a
general background to ethical debate about companion animals,
followed by a focus on a number of crucial aspects of human
relationships to companion animals. The first section discusses the
nature of our relationships to companion animals, the foundations
of our moral responsibilities to companion animals, what our
relationships with companion animals teach us, and whether animals
themselves can act ethically. The second part explores some
specific ethical issues related to crucial aspects of companion
animals' lives-breeding, reproduction, sterilization, cloning,
adoption, feeding, training, working, sexual interactions,
longevity, dying, and euthanasia.
In view of the current rhetoric surrounding the global migrant
crisis - with politicians comparing refugees with animals and media
reports warning of migrants swarming like insects or trespassing
like wolves - this timely study explores the cultural origins of
the language and imagery of dehumanization. Situated at the
junction of literature, politics, and ecocriticism, Wolves at the
Door traces the history of the wolf metaphor in discussions of
race, gender, colonialism, fascism, and ecology. How have
'Gypsies', Jews, Native Americans but also 'wayward' women been
'wolfed' in literature and politics? How has the wolf myth been
exploited by Hitler, Mussolini and Turkish ultra-nationalism? How
do right-wing politicians today exploit the reappearance of wolves
in Central Europe in the context of the migration discourse? And
while their reintroduction in places like Yellowstone has fuelled
heated debates, what is the wolf's role in ecological rewilding and
for the restoration of biodiversity? In today's fraught political
climate, Wolves at the Door alerts readers to the links between
stereotypical images, their cultural history, and their political
consequences. It raises awareness about xenophobia and the dangers
of nationalist idolatry, but also highlights how literature and the
visual arts employ the wolf myth for alternative messages of
tolerance and cultural diversity.
Humans and nonhuman animals engage with each other in a multitude
of fascinating ways. They have always done so, motivated by both
necessity and choice. Yet, as human population numbers increase and
our impact on the planet expands, this engagement takes on new
meanings and requires new understanding.In Engaging with Animals:
Interpretations of a Shared Existence experts in the field of
human-animal studies investigate, from a variety of disciplinary
perspectives, the ways in which humans and other animals interact.
Grouped into three broad sections, the chapters focus on themes
ranging from attitudes, ethics and interactions to history, art and
literature, and finally animal welfare outcomes. While offering
different interpretations of human-non-human interactions, they
share a common goal in attempting to find pathways leading to a
mutually beneficial and shared co-existence.
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