Animals and Why They Matter

by Mary Midgley

Overview

Animals and Why They Matter examines the barriers that our philosophical traditions have erected between human beings and animals and reveals that the too-often ridiculed subject of animal rights is an issue crucially related to such problems within the human community as racism, sexism, and age discrimination. Mary Midgley's profound and clearly written narrative is a thought-provoking study of the way in which the opposition between reason and emotion has shaped our moral and political ideas and the problems it has raised. Whether considering vegetarianism, women's rights, or the "humanity" of pets, this book goes to the heart of the question of why all animals matter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820320410
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	09/01/1998
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

MARY MIDGLEY is the author of Beast and Man and Heart and Mind. She lives in Newcastle on Tyne, England.

MARY MIDGLEY is the author of Beast and Man and Heart and Mind. She lives in Newcastle on Tyne, England.

Editorial Reviews

Brings together two intellectual currents: an increased scientific understanding and public appreciation of animals, and an increasing tendency by philosophers to extend moral questions beyond the barrier of our own species.

Smithsonian

This is a good and readable, though not easy, book, and it is written with such sincerity that it will force readers to consider more deeply the question of exactly what sort of rights animals—human beings included—have.

Christian Science Monitor

Midgley demolishes some of the most frequently heard arguments against the protection of animals.

New York Review of Books

Her treatment of vegetarianism and her treatment of the question of women's rights as a parallel to animals' rights are brilliant.

author of Philosophy of Technology - Frederick Ferré

Her treatment of vegetarianism and her treatment of the question of women's rights as a parallel to animals' rights are brilliant.

Frederick Ferre

"This is a good and readable, though not easy, book, and it is written with such sincerity that it will force readers to consider more deeply the question of exactly what sort of rights animals—human beings included—have."--Christian Science Monitor

"Midgley demolishes some of the most frequently heard arguments against the protection of animals."--New York Review of Books

"Brings together two intellectual currents: an increased scientific understanding and public appreciation of animals, and an increasing tendency by philosophers to extend moral questions beyond the barrier of our own species."--Smithsonian

"Her treatment of vegetarianism and her treatment of the question of women's rights as a parallel to animals' rights are brilliant."--Frederick Ferré, author of Philosophy of Technology

From the Publisher