Brute Souls, Happy Beasts, and Evolution

The scholarship is impressive ... Few other researchers, if any, can match his knowledge of the historical record. -- Angus Taylor, author of Animals and Ethics: An Overview of the Philosophical Debate A marvelous scholarly tour de force. Preece is the most learned person writing in the area today. His knowledge is encyclopedic, and unlike many historians, he has a gift for relating the historical to contemporary conceptual issues. -- Bernard Rollin, author of Animal Rights and Human Morality and The Unheeded Cry: Animal Consciousness

In this provocative inquiry into the status of animals in human society from the fifth century BC to the present, Rod Preece provides a wholly new perspective on the human-animal relationship.

In this provocative inquiry into the status of animals in human society from the fifth century BC to the present, Rod Preece provides a wholly new perspective on the human-animal relationship. He skillfully demonstrates that, counter to prevailing intellectual opinion, ethical attitudes toward animals are neither restricted to the twentieth century nor the result of Darwin’s theory of evolution. They have been part of Western thought and culture for centuries.

With his usual eloquence, Preece builds a cogent and persuasive argument, challenging current assumptions about the historical status of animals in Western civilization. He dispels the notion that animals were denied ethical consideration by Christian doctrine, refutes the claim that the Cartesian conception of animals as automata was widely embraced, and proves that "theriophily" -- the notion of animal superiority over humans -- was given greater credence than is commonly recognized. The exhaustive research and breadth of knowledge that Preece reveals in this book are matched by his belief in our ethical responsibilities to animals.

Brute Souls, Happy Beasts, and Evolution will be required reading for those from animal scientists to animal philosophers to animal rights activists who have an interest in the history and philosophy of animal ethics.