Description
Are animals capable of wonder? Can they be said to possess language and reason? What can animals teach us about how to live well? How can they help us to see the limitations of human civilization? Is it possible to draw firm distinctions between humans and animals? And how might asking and answering questions like these lead us to rethink human-animal relations in an age of catastrophic ecological destruction?
In this accessible and engaging book, Matthew Calarco explores key issues in the philosophy of animals and their significance for our contemporary world. He leads readers on a spirited tour of historical and contemporary philosophy, ranging from Plato to Donna Haraway and from the Cynics to the Jains. Calarco unearths surprising insights about animals from a number of philosophers while also underscoring ways in which the philosophical tradition has failed to challenge the dogma of human-centeredness. Along the way, he indicates how mainstream Western philosophy is both complemented and challenged by non-Western traditions and noncanonical theories about animals. Throughout, Calarco uses examples from contemporary culture to illustrate how philosophical theories about animals are deeply relevant to our lives today. The Boundaries of Human Nature shows readers why philosophy can help transform not just the way we think about animals but also how we interact with them.
About the Author
Matthew Calarco is professor of philosophy at California State University, Fullerton. His books include Zoographies: The Question of the Animal from Heidegger to Derrida (Columbia, 2008) and Beyond the Anthropological Difference (2020).
Reviews
An elegant dive into philosophical perspectives on the human and the animal, ranging from ancient traditions to ecofeminism. Calarco intersperses new insights on animal capacities for moral agency, emotions, and language to support an argument for veganism. The result is a compelling read that invokes a sense of wonder before the mysteries of our fellow creatures. -- Cynthia Willett, author of Interspecies Ethics
Matthew Calarco is a leading voice in philosophical animal studies. This book offers an accessible overview of diverse philosophical perspectives on animals, ranging from ancient sources to some of the most cutting-edge contemporary perspectives. Throughout Calarco writes with passionate clarity, encompassing warmth and compassion. -- Dinesh Wadiwel, author of The War Against Animals
From Plato to Haraway, Matthew Calarco's philosophical travelogue explores the pitfalls of human exceptionalism and the promise of a less violent future in which humans and more-than-humans can collectively thrive. At a time of ecological meltdown, philosophy is the pharmakon: both poison and cure in the life-saving quest for multispecies flourishing. -- Anat Pick, author of Creaturely Poetics: Animality and Vulnerability in Literature and Film
In this fascinating and thoughtful book, Calarco assembles a menagerie of animals and their philosophers to offer an engaging exploration of the many diverse, unequal, and often highly consequential ways in which human lives are made both meaningful and liveable in company with our animal others. -- Thom van Dooren, author of The Wake of Crows: Living and Dying in Shared Worlds
The Boundaries of Human Nature presents in elegant and succinct prose how animals have been regarded by leading thinkers from the Jains and early Greek thinkers to modern and late modern philosophers. Calarco gleans from this array of diverse authors a profound lesson: namely, that animals require our utmost regard and appreciation rather than being made subject to slaughter and mass extermination. -- Edward S. Casey, author of The World on Edge
[A] lucid, entertaining compendium... -- Wendy Woodward * Animal Studies Journal *
Book Information
ISBN 9780231194730
Author Matthew Calarco
Format Paperback
Page Count 184
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
In this accessible and engaging book, Matthew Calarco explores key issues in the philosophy of animals and their significance for our contemporary world. He leads readers on a spirited tour of historical and contemporary philosophy, ranging from Plato to Donna Haraway and from the Cynics to the Jains. Calarco unearths surprising insights about animals from a number of philosophers while also underscoring ways in which the philosophical tradition has failed to challenge the dogma of human-centeredness. Along the way, he indicates how mainstream Western philosophy is both complemented and challenged by non-Western traditions and noncanonical theories about animals. Throughout, Calarco uses examples from contemporary culture to illustrate how philosophical theories about animals are deeply relevant to our lives today. The Boundaries of Human Nature shows readers why philosophy can help transform not just the way we think about animals but also how we interact with them.
About the Author
Matthew Calarco is professor of philosophy at California State University, Fullerton. His books include Zoographies: The Question of the Animal from Heidegger to Derrida (Columbia, 2008) and Beyond the Anthropological Difference (2020).
Reviews
An elegant dive into philosophical perspectives on the human and the animal, ranging from ancient traditions to ecofeminism. Calarco intersperses new insights on animal capacities for moral agency, emotions, and language to support an argument for veganism. The result is a compelling read that invokes a sense of wonder before the mysteries of our fellow creatures. -- Cynthia Willett, author of Interspecies Ethics
Matthew Calarco is a leading voice in philosophical animal studies. This book offers an accessible overview of diverse philosophical perspectives on animals, ranging from ancient sources to some of the most cutting-edge contemporary perspectives. Throughout Calarco writes with passionate clarity, encompassing warmth and compassion. -- Dinesh Wadiwel, author of The War Against Animals
From Plato to Haraway, Matthew Calarco's philosophical travelogue explores the pitfalls of human exceptionalism and the promise of a less violent future in which humans and more-than-humans can collectively thrive. At a time of ecological meltdown, philosophy is the pharmakon: both poison and cure in the life-saving quest for multispecies flourishing. -- Anat Pick, author of Creaturely Poetics: Animality and Vulnerability in Literature and Film
In this fascinating and thoughtful book, Calarco assembles a menagerie of animals and their philosophers to offer an engaging exploration of the many diverse, unequal, and often highly consequential ways in which human lives are made both meaningful and liveable in company with our animal others. -- Thom van Dooren, author of The Wake of Crows: Living and Dying in Shared Worlds
The Boundaries of Human Nature presents in elegant and succinct prose how animals have been regarded by leading thinkers from the Jains and early Greek thinkers to modern and late modern philosophers. Calarco gleans from this array of diverse authors a profound lesson: namely, that animals require our utmost regard and appreciation rather than being made subject to slaughter and mass extermination. -- Edward S. Casey, author of The World on Edge
[A] lucid, entertaining compendium... -- Wendy Woodward * Animal Studies Journal *
Book Information
ISBN 9780231194730
Author Matthew Calarco
Format Paperback
Page Count 184
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
