Animal minds and human morals : the origins of the Western debate

Resource Information

The work Animal minds and human morals : the origins of the Western debate represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Waubonsee Community College. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Animal minds and human morals : the origins of the Western debate

Title remainder

the origins of the Western debate

Statement of responsibility

Richard Sorabji

Creator

• Sorabji, Richard

Subject

• Animals -- Treatment | Philosophy | History
• Rechten van het dier
• Dieren
• Ethiek
• Philosophy of mind -- History -- To 1500
• Ethik
• Animal intelligence -- Philosophy | History -- To 1500
• Rechten van het dier
• Mensch
• Verstand
• Tiere
• Ethiek
• Philosophy, Ancient
• Recht
• Dieren
• Philosophie
• Griechenland
• Animal welfare -- History -- To 1500
• Intelligenz
• Verstand

Language

eng

Summary

"They don't have syntax, so we can eat them." According to Richard Sorabji, this conclusion attributed to the Stoic philosophers was based on Aristotle's argument that animals lack reason. In his fascinating, deeply learned book, Sorabji traces the roots of our thinking about animals back to Aristotelian and Stoic beliefs. Charting a recurrent theme in ancient philosophy of mind, he shows that today's controversies about animal rights represent only the most recent chapter in millennia-old debates. Sorabji surveys a vast range of Greek philosophical texts and considers how classical discussions of animals' capacities intersect with central questions, not only in ethics but in the definition of human rationality as well: the nature of concepts; how perceptions differ from beliefs; how memory, intention, and emotion relate to reason; and to what extent speech, skills, and inference can serve as proofs of reason. Focusing on the significance of ritual sacrifice and the eating of meat, he explores religious contexts of the treatment of animals in ancient Greece and in medieval Western Christendom. He also looks closely at the contemporary defenses of animal rights offered by Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Mary Midgley. Animal Minds and Human Morals sheds new light on traditional arguments surrounding the status of animals while pointing beyond them to current moral dilemmas. It will be crucial reading for scholars and students in the fields of ancient philosophy, ethics, history of philosophy, classics, and medieval studies, and for everyone seriously concerned about our relationship with other species

Member of

• Cornell studies in classical philology, Townsend lectures
• Cornell studies in classical philology, v. 54

Cataloging source

DLC

Dewey number

179/.3

Index

index present

LC call number

B187.M55

LC item number

S67 1993

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Series statement

• Cornell studies in classical philology
• The Townsend lectures

Series volume

v. 54.