Understanding Animals: Philosophy for Dog and Cat LoversHow do animals perceive the world? What does it really feel like to be a cat or a dog? In Understanding Animals, Lars Svendsen investigates how humans can attempt to understand the lives of other animals. The book delves into animal communication, intelligence, self-awareness, loneliness, and grief, but most fundamentally how humans and animals can cohabit and build a form of friendship. Svendsen provides examples from many different animal species—from chimpanzees to octopus—but his main focus is on cats and dogs: the animals that many of us are closest to in our daily lives. Drawing upon both philosophical analysis and the latest scientific discoveries, Svendsen argues that the knowledge we glean from our relationships with our pets is as valid and insightful as any scientific study of human-animal relations. With this entertaining and thought-provoking book, animal lovers and pet owners will gain a deeper understanding of what it is like to be an animal—and in turn, a human. |
Contents
7 | |
11 | |
Language | 18 |
Seeing Animal Consciousness | 28 |
A Human Form | 40 |
Mindreading | 51 |
Intelligence | 65 |
For Now We See through a Mirror Darkly | 75 |
The Dog | 112 |
The Cat | 128 |
The Octopus | 141 |
Loneliness and Grief | 147 |
Do Animals Have Morals? | 157 |
Humans and Other Animals | 166 |
Friendship | 177 |
183 | |
Time | 80 |
Can Animals Be Understood? | 87 |
Surroundings | 97 |
To Be an Animal | 104 |
193 | |
Acknowledgements | 199 |
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Common terms and phrases
ability able actually animal’s behaviour anthropomorphism ascribe attribute awareness become behaved bird Bobby bonobo brain cat’s chimpanzees claimed that animals clear Clever Hans communicate concept David Hume Descartes describe Dilthey dog’s dogs and cats echolocation emotional example experience explain expression external feel pain Frans de Waal friendship G.E.M. Anscombe give grief Hans-Georg Gadamer happy Heidegger humans and animals imagine Immanuel Kant intelligence interpret Jane Goodall Kant language Lasse and Geir least Levinas linguistic lion live loneliness look Luna mals mammals Martin Heidegger means mental meowing mirror test monkeys moral natural never normally objects one’s ontology organism ourselves person phenomenal consciousness philosopher pigeons play psychology question reason to assume recognize Red Peter relationship self-centred world signs similar simple reason simply someone sound speak tail talk things thought understand animals walk Wilhelm Dilthey Wittgenstein writes