“Everybody who is interested in the ethics of our relationship between humans and animals should read this book.” —Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human
Hal Herzog, a maverick scientist and leader in the field of anthrozoology offers a controversial, thought-provoking, and unprecedented exploration of the psychology behind the inconsistent and often paradoxical ways we think, feel, and behave towards animals. A cross between Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat, in the words of Irene M. Pepperberg, bestselling author of Alex & Me, “deftly blends anecdote with scientific research to show how almost any moral or ethical position regarding our relationship with animals can lead to absurd consequences.”
Hal Herzog is recognized as one of the world’s leading anthrozoologists. He is a professor of psychology at Western Carolina University and lives in the Great Smoky Mountains with his wife Mary Jean.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Why Is It So Hard to Think Straight About Animals? 1
1 Anthrozoology: The New Science of Human-Animal Interactions 15
2 The Importance of Being Cute: Why We Think What We Think About Creatures That Don't Think Like Us 37
3 Pet-O-Philia: Why Do Humans (and Only Humans) Love Pets? 67
4 Friends, Foes, And Fashion Statements: The Human-Dog Relationship 97
5 "Prom Queen Kills First Deer On Sixteenth Birthday": Gender and the Human-Animal Relationship 129
6 In The Eyes Of The Beholder: The Comparative Cruelty of Cockfights and Happy Meals 149
7 Delicious, Dangerous, Disgusting, And Dead: The Human-Meat Relationship 175
8 The Moral Status of Mice: The Use of Animals in Science 205
9 The Cats In Our Houses, The Cows On Our Plates: Are We All Hypocrites? 237
10 The Carnivorous Yahoo Within Ourselves: Dealing with Moral Inconsistency 263
“Wonderful. . . . An engagingly written book that only seems to be about animals. Herzog’s deepest questions are about men, women and children.”
Robert M. Sapolsky
“This is a wonderful book—wildly readable, funny, scientifically sound, and with surprising moments of deep, challenging thoughts. I loved it.”
From the Publisher
"Insightful, compassionate and humorous." —-Kirkus
Steven Pinker
“A fascinating, thoughtful, and thoroughly enjoyable exploration of a major dimension of human experience.”
Sam Gosling
“Hal Herzog does for our relationships with animals what Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma did for our relationships with food….The book is a joy to read, and no matter what your beliefs are now, it will change how you think.”
Irene M. Pepperberg
“Hal Herzog deftly blends anecdote with scientific research to show how almost any moral or ethical position regarding our relationship with animals can lead to absurd consequences. In an utterly appealing narrative, he reveals the quirky…ways we humans try to make sense of these absurdities.”
Arnold Arluke
“An instant classic….Written so accessibly and personally, while simultaneously satisfying the scholar in all of us.”
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
“One of a kind. I don’t know when I’ve read anything more comprehensive about our highly involved, highly contradictory relationships with animals, relationships which we mindlessly, placidly continue no matter how irrational they may be….This page-turning book is quite something—you won’t forget it any time soon.”
