Ethics and Animals: An Introduction

by Lori Gruen

Overview

In this fresh and comprehensive introduction to animal ethics, Lori Gruen weaves together poignant and provocative case studies with discussions of ethical theory, urging readers to engage critically and empathetically reflect on our treatment of other animals. In clear and accessible language, Gruen provides a survey of the issues central to human-animal relations and a reasoned new perspective on current key debates in the field. She analyses and explains a range of theoretical positions and poses challenging questions that directly encourage readers to hone their ethical reasoning skills and to develop a defensible position about their own practices. Her book will be an invaluable resource for students in a wide range of disciplines including ethics, environmental studies, veterinary science, women's studies, and the emerging field of animal studies and is an engaging account of the subject for general readers with no prior background in philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521717731
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/03/2011
Series:	Cambridge Applied Ethics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Lori Gruen teaches Philosophy and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University in Connecticut where she also directs the Ethics in Society project. She has published widely on topics in practical ethics and animal ethics.

Table of Contents

1. Why animals matter; 2. The natural and the normative; 3. Eating animals; 4. Animal research; 5. Dilemmas of captivity; 6. Animals in the wild; 7. Protecting animals.

Editorial Reviews

"....Ethics introduces readers to the many ways humans use animals, and to the schools of ethical thought that we can use to evaluate the morality of this use.... offer thought-provoking guidelines.... Gruen makes ethical arguments matter, even in situations that seem morally clear."
—Piper Hoffman, writer and attorney, Our Hen House


"Ethics and Animals: An Introduction is a fine introduction to a set of issues concerning the variety of ways that humans interact with, treat, and sometimes exploit non-human animals. While Gruen brings the resources of both empirical science and normative ethical theory to bear on the issues, her book is clearly written, non-technical, and suitable for a general audience, including students from a variety of disciplines, and the reference list provides excellent resources for further reading..."
—Justin Moss, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Avila University, Kansas City, MO, Metapsychology Online Reviews


"...Ethics and Animals is concise, clearly argued, and highly readable. It is more enjoyable and accessible than standard strictly academic prose.... Gruen, with deep intellectual honesty, manages to give a good presentation of the status quaestionis, updating readers on the focus of the debate. If the author aimed to show that the way in which humans treat animals in the contemporary world is mostly immoral, the objective was achieved."
—Carlos Naconecy, Oxford Centre, Journal of Animal Ethics

From the Publisher