Product Description

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75713 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781577316299
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Amazon.com Review

If the onus on Emotional Lives of Animals author Marc Bekoff was simply to prove that nonhuman creatures exhibit Charles Darwin's six universal emotions (anger, happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, and surprise), then his book would be very brief. As anyone who has ever had a pet dog, cat, rabbit, or even bird can attest, animals not only possess such emotions but broadcast them clearly and often. Bekoff's goal, however, is much grander: To show that wild and domestic species have a kaleidoscopic range of feelings, from embarrassment to awe, and that we dismiss them not only at their peril but our own. And if an endorsement squib by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk and Foreword by renowned animal scientist Jane Goodall doesn't give it away, then readers quickly learn that Bekoff also has an agenda: showing that using animals for scientific experiments, amusement, food, and the like is reprehensible and unconscionable.

Not that The Emotional Lives of Animals is a polemic. By turns funny, anecdotal, and deeply researched, the book is all the more persuasive because it's so compelling. As Bekoff (professor emeritus of biology at the University of Colorado) points out, "It's bad biology to argue against the existence of animal emotions. Scientific research in evolutionary biology, cognitive ethology, and social neuroscience supports the view that numerous and diverse animals have rich and deep emotional lives. Emotions have evolved as adaptations in numerous species, and they serve as a social glue to bond animals with one another." And with us, as Bekoff argues in this absorbing and important book. -- Kim Hughes

From Publishers Weekly
Any dog owner knows that her own pet has feelings, but what evidence exists beyond the anecdotal, and what does this evidence teach us? Bekoff, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Colorado, pores through decades of animal research-behavioral, neurochemical, psychological and environmental-to answer that question, compelling readers to accept both the existence and significance of animal emotions. Seated in the most primitive structures of the brain (pleasure receptors, for example, are biologically correlative in all mammals), emotions have a long evolutionary history. Indeed, as vertebrates became more complex, they developed ever more complex emotional and social lives, "setting rules" that permit group living-a far better survival strategy than going solo. Along the way, Bekoff forces the reader to re-examine the nature of human beings; our species could not have persevered through the past 100,000 years without the evolution of strong and cohesive social relationships cemented with emotions, a conclusion contrary to contemporary pop sociology notions that prioritize individualism and competition. He also explores, painfully but honestly, the abuse animals regularly withstand in factory farms, research centers and elsewhere, and calls on fellow scientists to practice their discipline with "heart." Demonstrating the far-reaching implications for readers' relationships with any number of living beings, Bekoff's book is profound, thought-provoking and even touching.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
For several years ethologist and author Bekoff (Minding Animals 2002; Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, 2005) studied communication in wild and domestic animals and gradually became convinced that humans are not the only animals that experience emotions. Here, Bekoff examines the concept of emotion in the lives of nonhumans, the evolutionary advantages of emotions, and the neurological basis for emotions. This field of cognitive ethology--the study of the subjective, emotional, empathic and moral lives of animals--encompasses researchers from many different fields and embraces data from the most scientifically rigid to the anecdotal. Bekoff writes in a highly personal style that vitalizes his discussion of the scientific background of cognitive ethology, and the text is liberally sprinkled with stories from his own and other authors' writings, as well as anecdotes from other scientists, that illustrate his arguments. The final sections focus on how to conduct scientifically rigorous research while addressing scientific rigidity on the subject of animal emotions, and the ethics of how we live our lives with animals. A readable book equally charming and challenging. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

My dogs say, "Bekoff is right."
This is an excellent book, and I don't disagree with anything he says. However, he makes much of his case based on anecdotal evidence. He does cite scientific studies, but these are peripheral to the stories. I don't really mind this because I agreed with him before I ever started reading the book, and I enjoyed the stories. If he's looking to persuade people, which I think he should, he might have gone a little heavier on the science and a little lighter on the stories.

Regardless of whether he has proven his case about the emotions of animals, his book gives us one pivotal concept we can rely on: if we don't know for sure, the default assumption should be that animals do have emotions until proven otherwise. To paraphrase: If I assume animals feel pain and pleasure and love, and act accordingly, and then it turns out my assumption was wrong, I will have done no harm. However, if I assume that animals don't have feelings, and then it turns out I was wrong, I may have caused immeasurable damage.

Fine Ethical Thesis: Touching Stories.
Do no harm is the essence of this book. It provides colorful insight into the real emotional lives of various animals. The author used a wide variety of sources, & field observations from wildlife biologists. The section on neurobiology were the most interesting for me. The fact that animals share several of our neural structures for emotion came as no surprise to this lay person. I have always felt {& have been bashed plenty for it}, that animals often represent the better half of human nature that we sometimes submerge. Dogs, Reptiles, Monkeys, Rats, Moon Bears, Whales & Elephants are all here. The latter are probably the most fascinating creatures in the book? The authors advocacy for animals was very refreshing to this animal lover. His basic thesis gives us a crucial point, "that if we are not certain about an animals emotions, we should presume that they often feel exactly what we humans do." For that compassionate view I had to up my four star impression to a hearty five.

Emotional intelligence in animals
Marc Bekoff's The Emotional Lives of Animals is a wonderful book. I was impressed by the scope and depth of the research underlying the book, and by the way that Bekoff makes scientific data interesting and accessible to a general readership. The writing is lively; Bekoff weaves together stories of animal emotions with scientific data supporting his ideas about animal empathy, fairness, grief, pleasure, joy, and sadness. And his thesis is hardhitting: If animals do indeed live the rich emotional lives that Bekoff describes--and we have every reason to believe they do--then we may, by force of logic, be led to reconsider our moral obligations to them. Bekoff is obviously passionate about his subjects, but never does his writing sound strident. Instead, he uses humor and grace to navigate the controversial terrain of animal welfare.