Sentient


Book Description

An enthralling examination of some of the most remarkable creatures in the animal kingdom, and what they tell us about what it means to be human.




Politics of Species


Book Description

"The assumption that humans are cognitively and morally superior to other animals is fundamental to social democracies and legal systems worldwide. It legitimises treating members of other animal species as inferior to humans. The last few decades have seen a growing awareness of this issue, as evidence continues to show that individuals of many other species have rich mental, emotional and social lives. Bringing together leading experts from a range of disciplines, this volume identifies the key barriers to a definition of moral respect that includes nonhuman animals. It sets out to increase concern, empathy and inclusiveness by developing strategies that can be used to protect other animals from exploitation in the wild and from suffering in captivity. The chapters link scientific data with normative and philosophical reflections, offering unique insight into controversial issues around the ethical, political and legal status of other species"--




Embryos, Galaxies, and Sentient Beings


Book Description

Why is the universe conscious? What kindles mind inside matter? Why do fundamentalist sciences and religions never ask these questions? This sequel to Embryogenesis deals with the theoretical issues brought up by Embryogenesis, including: the relationship between thermodynamics/entropy and the emergence of life; a speculative set of embryogenic principles for all creatures on all planets in the cosmos; an explanation and critique of Intelligent Design and a proposal for a more dynamic psychospiritual theory of creature development; a series of alternatives to genetic determinism; a discussion of the relationship between consciousness and matter; an interjection of 9/11 (which occurred during the writing of this book); and many other topics. Chapters include: What is Life?: Evolution, Thermodynamics, and Complexity; Is There a Plan?: Creationism, Cultural Relativism, and Paraphysics; Biogenesis and Cosmogenesis: Cells, Genes, and Planets; The Principles of Biological Design: Physical Forces in Nature; The Dynamics of the Biosphere: Deep Time and Space; The Limits of Genetic Determinism: Dimensionless Epigenetic Landscapes; Topokinesis: Physical Forces in Development; Tissue Motifs and Body Plans: Coordinating Form; The Primordial Field: Metabiology and The Molecular Apparatus; Meaning and Destiny: The Relation of Consciousness to Matter




Ethical Vegan


Book Description

'Powerful and poignant.' Virginia McKenna OBE, Born Free Ethical veganism is not just a diet. Not just an opinion; nor a trend. This is a 21st-century revolution which began more than twenty centuries ago. Ethical veganism is not only about the food you choose to consume, it is a coherent philosophical belief that affects most areas of your life, and which could be the answer to today's global crises. Jordi Casamitjana is the vegan zoologist and animal protection campaigner whose landmark Employment Tribunal in 2020 made ethical veganism a protected belief in Great Britain. Ethical Vegan describes Jordi's extraordinary life and the animal encounters which led him to veganism and legal victory. It debunks myths and dispels preconceptions, offering a comprehensive analysis of veganism as a philosophy and as a socio-political transformative movement. Taking in history, science and everyday living, it explores how it is possible to dress ethically, travel, consume and work responsibly and, of course, eat well without compromising vegan ethics. Ethical Vegan is a riveting read - Jordi Casamitjana argues passionately for humans to interact with the world in a positive and compassionate way. This thought-provoking manifesto for doing no harm has the power to open people's minds and help to achieve a better future for all living things and the planet. As informative as it is incisive, as inspiring as it is inviting, this book will become one of the stand-out pieces of literature in the animal liberation movement. A must read whether you are vegan, vegetarian or otherwise!' Jay Brave




The Sentient Machine


Book Description

Explores universal questions about humanity's capacity for living and thriving in the coming age of sentient machines and AI, examining debates from opposing perspectives while discussing emerging intellectual diversity and its potential role in enabling a positive life.




Beating Hearts


Book Description

How can someone who condemns hunting, animal farming, and animal experimentation also favor legal abortion, which is the deliberate destruction of a human fetus? The authors of Beating Hearts aim to reconcile this apparent conflict and examine the surprisingly similar strategic and tactical questions faced by activists in the pro-life and animal rights movements. Beating Hearts maintains that sentience, or the ability to have subjective experiences, grounds a being's entitlement to moral concern. The authors argue that nearly all human exploitation of animals is unjustified. Early abortions do not contradict the sentience principle because they precede fetal sentience, and Beating Hearts explains why the mere potential for sentience does not create moral entitlements. Late abortions do raise serious moral questions, but forcing a woman to carry a child to term is problematic as a form of gender-based exploitation. These ethical explorations lead to a wider discussion of the strategies deployed by the pro-life and animal rights movements. Should legal reforms precede or follow attitudinal changes? Do gory images win over or alienate supporters? Is violence ever principled? By probing the connections between debates about abortion and animal rights, Beating Hearts uses each highly contested set of questions to shed light on the other.




Do Fish Feel Pain?


Book Description

While there has been increasing interest in recent years in the welfare of farm animals, fish are frequently thought to be different. In many people's perception, fish, with their lack of facial expressions or recognisable communication, are not seen to count when it comes to welfare. Angling is a major sport, and fishing a big industry. Millions of fish are caught on barbed hooks, or left to die by suffocation on the decks of fishing boats. Here, biologist Victoria Braithwaite explores the question of fish pain and fish suffering, explaining what we now understand about fish behaviour, and examining the related ethical questions about how we should treat these animals. She asks why the question of pain in fish has not been raised earlier, indicating our prejudices and assumptions; and argues that the latest and growing scientific evidence would suggest that we should widen to fish the protection currently given to birds and mammals.




Sentient Flesh


Book Description

In Sentient Flesh R. A. Judy takes up freedman Tom Windham’s 1937 remark “we should have our liberty 'cause . . . us is human flesh" as a point of departure for an extended meditation on questions of the human, epistemology, and the historical ways in which the black being is understood. Drawing on numerous fields, from literary theory and musicology, to political theory and phenomenology, as well as Greek and Arabic philosophy, Judy engages literary texts and performative practices such as music and dance that express knowledge and conceptions of humanity appositional to those grounding modern racialized capitalism. Operating as critiques of Western humanism, these practices and modes of being-in-the-world—which he theorizes as “thinking in disorder,” or “poiēsis in black”—foreground the irreducible concomitance of flesh, thinking, and personhood. As Judy demonstrates, recognizing this concomitance is central to finding a way past the destructive force of ontology that still holds us in thrall. Erudite and capacious, Sentient Flesh offers a major intervention in the black study of life.




When the Horses Whisper


Book Description

"When the Horses Whisper shows the capacity of horses to help us heal the human heart. It expresses in human language what horses have to say when given the chance to speak. It is a story about the sacred bond between us, and the communication made possible when the horse-human relationship is based on love. Conversations with fifteen horses, most of who live and work in Costa Rica, are featured along with their photographs, capturing them as individual beings in service to humans on a shared evolutionary journey. This journey amounts to the "re-membering" of our whole selves in the wholeness of creation, especially the parts we split off, deny, and place in shadow because they are too painful to deal with. Horses, as the book shows, can help us see these lost parts, and call forth our courage to reclaim them. For the author, these included the loss of a newborn daughter, the mental illness of an adult son, letting go of a thirty-year marriage, and childhood sexual abuse. The story recounts the equine healing work that helped in reclaiming her authentic self. This book is testimony to the power of horses and equine healing work in transforming life's losses into a deeper human wholeness and a further communion with the non-human world."--P. [4] of cover.




Fellow Creatures


Book Description

Presents a compelling new view of our moral relationships to the other animals