The Animal/Human Boundary: Historical Perspectives (Hardcover, New and Revised and Updated to Include New Develop ed.)

An examination of the difficulties in fundamentally differentiating humans from all other animals. The way in which humans articulate identities, social hierarchies, and their inversions through relations with animals has been a fruitful topic in anthropological and historical investigations for the last several years. The contributors to this volume call attention to the symbolic meanings of animals, from the casting of first-year students as goats in medieval universities to the representation of vermin as greedy thieves in early modern England. But the essays in this volume are also concerned with the more material and bodily aspects of animal-human relations, like eating regulations, aggression, and transplanting of animal organs into human beings [xenotransplantation]. Modern biologists have increasingly problematized the human-animal boundary. Researchers have challenged the supposedly unique ability of humans to use language. Chimpanzees and gorillas, it has been argued, have learned to communicate using American Sign Language. In addition, some scientists regard the sophistication of modes of communication in species like dolphins and songbirds as undermining the view of humans as uniquely capable of complex expressions. As studies of nonhuman primates threaten to compromise the long-held assumption that only humans possess self-awareness. The question becomes: How can one firmly differentiate human beings from other animals? Contributors include Piers Beirne, Richard W. Burkhardt, Jr., Mary E. Fissell, Paul H. Freedman, Ruth Mazo Karras, Susan E. Lederer, Rob Meens, John H. Murrin, James A. Serpell, and H. Peter Steeves. Angela N. H. Creager andWilliam Chester Jordan are Associates of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University.

General

Imprint:	University of Rochester Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Studies in Comparative History
Release date:	December 2002
First published:	2002
Editors:	Angela Creager (Contributor) • William Chester Jordan (Contributor)
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 28mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	360
Edition:	New and Revised and Updated to Include New Develop ed.
ISBN-13:	978-1-58046-120-7
Categories:	Books > Law > General Books > Medicine > General issues > History of medicine Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Crime & criminology > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > Social & cultural anthropology > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social issues > Animals & society > General Promotions
LSN:	1-58046-120-4
Barcode:	9781580461207

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!