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Rating: 
Summary: very impressive
Review: This is a very impressive scholarly work. Basically, it's an overview of, among other things, all remotely philosophical issues that tie in with animals. One regrettable thing is that it's not available in paperback. Hopefully it will eventually be issued in paperback so it's cheaper.Professor Shanks is also Vice-President of Americans for Medical Advancement. AFMA promotes human wellness by exposing the lost opportunities for cures and the life-threatening results of animal-modeled biomedical research. They educate the public, showing how government and charities misspend medical research dollars and place us at grave risk. Animal-modeled biomedical research yields results that cannot be safely applied to humans. It diverts research dollars that should be going to proven methods of curing human disease. They disclose how industry introduces and keeps unhealthy and often deadly products in the marketplace through animal experiments. Here is some information on the book: Animals and Science examines the debates, from the Renaissance to the present, surrounding issues of animal rights, consciousness, and self-awareness. Are animals self-aware, conscious beings worthy of our moral respect? Do they have rights? What are our obligations toward animals? Humans have grappled with these questions for five centuries. Our answers have revealed a great deal about animals, and even more about ourselves. Animals and Science examines what science has (and has not) taught us about the nature of nonhuman animals and explores the moral, religious, social, and scientific implications of those teachings. It shows how the scientific study of animals, especially their cognitive abilities, has transformed our understanding of them. Animals and Science traces our evolving understanding of animal pain and considers its moral relevance to humans. It discusses Darwin's belief-shattering notion that species differences are not absolute, then traces its impact to the present day. Ultimately, Animals and Science is about the nature of science-the kinds of questions science can and cannot answer, and the role of theory in shaping the interpretation of evidence.
Features
12 thought-provoking essays trace the evolution of our ideas about animals and their impact on science, medicine, and society
The book includes an extensive collection of primary source documents, ranging from Thomas Aquinas's Summa contra Gentiles to Peter Singer's Animal Liberation
Highlights
Explores the moral debate ignited by the scientific discovery that animals and humans experience pain the same way, and chronicles the resulting emergence of animal welfare groups
Details how comparative anatomy and vivisection in the 16th and 17th centuries revealed structural similarities between humans and animals Niall Shanks is professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of biological sciences at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. He is the coauthor of Brute Science: The Dilemmas of Animal Experimentation.
Rating:
Summary: very impressive
Review: This is a very impressive scholarly work. Basically, it's an overview of, among other things, all remotely philosophical issues that tie in with animals. One regrettable thing is that it's not available in paperback. Hopefully it will eventually be issued in paperback so it's cheaper. Professor Shanks is also Vice-President of Americans for Medical Advancement. AFMA promotes human wellness by exposing the lost opportunities for cures and the life-threatening results of animal-modeled biomedical research. They educate the public, showing how government and charities misspend medical research dollars and place us at grave risk. Animal-modeled biomedical research yields results that cannot be safely applied to humans. It diverts research dollars that should be going to proven methods of curing human disease. They disclose how industry introduces and keeps unhealthy and often deadly products in the marketplace through animal experiments. Here is some information on the book: Animals and Science examines the debates, from the Renaissance to the present, surrounding issues of animal rights, consciousness, and self-awareness. Are animals self-aware, conscious beings worthy of our moral respect? Do they have rights? What are our obligations toward animals? Humans have grappled with these questions for five centuries. Our answers have revealed a great deal about animals, and even more about ourselves. Animals and Science examines what science has (and has not) taught us about the nature of nonhuman animals and explores the moral, religious, social, and scientific implications of those teachings. It shows how the scientific study of animals, especially their cognitive abilities, has transformed our understanding of them. Animals and Science traces our evolving understanding of animal pain and considers its moral relevance to humans. It discusses Darwin's belief-shattering notion that species differences are not absolute, then traces its impact to the present day. Ultimately, Animals and Science is about the nature of science-the kinds of questions science can and cannot answer, and the role of theory in shaping the interpretation of evidence.
Features
12 thought-provoking essays trace the evolution of our ideas about animals and their impact on science, medicine, and society
The book includes an extensive collection of primary source documents, ranging from Thomas Aquinas's Summa contra Gentiles to Peter Singer's Animal Liberation
Highlights
Explores the moral debate ignited by the scientific discovery that animals and humans experience pain the same way, and chronicles the resulting emergence of animal welfare groups
Details how comparative anatomy and vivisection in the 16th and 17th centuries revealed structural similarities between humans and animals Niall Shanks is professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of biological sciences at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. He is the coauthor of Brute Science: The Dilemmas of Animal Experimentation.
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