Book review: The Emotional Lives of Animals Written by Marc Bekoff
For some scientists emotions in non-human animals is a taboo subject, but certainly not for Marc Bekoff a biology professor at the University of Colorado, USA. Marc has been studying animal behaviour for 35 years and has written hundreds of articles and numerous books on the subject and is a renowned public speaker. We are delighted that he is also a Patron of CAPS. Science can often exclude common sense from its calculations, yet common sense bounds from every page of Marc Bekoff’s latest book, The Emotional Lives of Animals. All animals - human and non-human – share many things in common, emotions being one. We can try and deny it, as so many people do, or embrace it. As Marc writes: “lacking a shared language, emotions are perhaps our most effective means of cross-species communication.” Those who feel challenged by discussion of emotions in other animals, and by calls to protect them, often claim that they will not change their opinions until there is qualified scientific proof that animals suffer in various situations. While this book is jam-packed with details of the latest scientific research on animal emotions, Marc adds: “my suspicion is that ‘doubt’ about animal emotions is espoused not because it serves science but because it protects the emotional needs of the scientist.” Anyone with an open mind will recognise the various rich emotional lives discussed throughout this book, but perhaps more important is the way in which we should challenge the status quo. As Marc explains, the precautionary principle “maintains that a lack of certainty should not be an excuse to delay action. Sometimes we have to act on our best judgement, because we may never have ‘all’ the facts, and if we wait for absolute certainty, we might never do anything.” The question is asked: what would cause more harm? Treating all animals “as if they possessed the full spectrum of emotions and sentience only to one day discover that animals possess only some of these qualities? Or continuing to abuse all animals only to one day discover that every species possesses sentience and an emotional richness equal to humans?” It’s not difficult to decide which option to take after reading this book! Marc’s style of writing is casual, pleasant, easy to read. He may be an award-winning scientist but his passion is obvious and infectious; this is a man who truly cares, who loves observing animals and gains equal joy from sharing his findings. The book is about the science of animal emotions, and fully referenced for those who want to delve deeper, but Marc clearly has no difficulty in getting all this across in a way that everyone can understand. This is a book that will empower and give hope; it guides the reader not into a pit of despair over the cruelties humans inflict on other animals but into a light, helping us seek the way forward. Marc encourages us to walk “through the world treating every living being like an equal - not the same, but as a being with an equal right to life.” Buy several copies and give them out to friends and family - especially the ones who are indifferent to the plight of animals! The Emotional Lives of Animals By Marc Bekoff New World Library. Available in hardback (2007) and paperback (2008) If you are buying this, or any other book, through an on-line retailer such as Amazon, you can also raise essential funds for CAPS at the same time, at no extra cost. Click here for details Marc has another book due out in November 2008: ‘Animals at Play: Rules of the Game’. Recommended for ages 9 -11, it is part of the series ‘Animals and Ethics’ which is edited by Marc. |
