The Moral Lives of Animals by Dale Peterson

The Moral Lives of Animals by Dale Peterson

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Summary

A provocative and brilliantly original exploration of what morality means, and what animals can teach us about it.

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The Moral Lives of Animals by Dale Peterson

Wild elephants walking along a trail stop and spontaneously try to protect and assist a weak and dying fellow elephant. Laboratory rats, finding other rats caged nearby in distressing circumstances, proceed to rescue them. A chimpanzee in a zoo loses his own life trying to save an unrelated infant who has fallen into a watery moat. The examples above and many others, argues Dale Peterson, show that our fellow creatures have powerful impulses toward cooperation, generosity, and fairness. Yet it is commonly held that we Homo sapiens are the only animals with a moral sense-that we are somehow above and apart from our fellow creatures. This rigorous and stimulating book challenges that notion, and it shows the profound connections-the moral continuum-that link humans to many other species. Peterson shows how much animal behavior follows principles embodied in humanity's ancient moral codes, from the Ten Commandments to the New Testament. Understanding the moral lives of animals offers new insight into our own. Dale Peterson's biography Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book and Boston Globe Best Book of 2006. His other publications include Visions of Caliban (with Jane Goodall) and Demonic Males (with Richard Wrangham). Peterson lectures in English at Tufts University.
Dale Peterson's biography, Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) was a New York Times Notable Book and Boston Globe Best Book of 2006. His other publications include Visions of Caliban (with Jane Goodall), and Demonic Males (with Richard Wrangham). Peterson lectures in English at Tufts University near Boston.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781596914247
ISBN 10 1596914246
Title The Moral Lives of Animals
Author Dale Peterson
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Year published 2011-07-04
Number of pages 352
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.