Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions, and Heart

255 Pages·2002·14.01 MB·English

by  Marc Bekoff

MINDING ANIMALS
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M I N D I NG
ANIMALS
Awareness, Emotions, and Heart
MARC BEKOFF
with a Foreword by Jane Goodall
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2OO2
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford New York
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Copyright © 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bekoff, Marc.
Minding animals: awareness, emotions, and heart /
by Marc Bekoff; with foreword by Jane Goodall.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 0-19-515077-5
1. Animal behavior. I. Title
QL751 .B366 2002
591.5—de21 2001051341
135798642
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To my parents, two wonderful beings,
for their unrelenting support and
unconditional and unbridled love
as I playfully pursued my dreams
with raging optimism,
often to their bafflement
To Jethro, a trusting soul and a mindful dog
of few barks who embraces all that
is good, a being who is at peace
with himself and all the world
and truly loves all other beings
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CONTENTS
FOREWORD by Jane Goodall ix
PREFACE XV
one CHASING COYOTES AND MOVING 3
"YELLOW SNOW"
two REPRESENTING AND 40
MISREPRESENTING ANIMALS
three THE RICHNESS OF 56
BEHAVIORAL DIVERSITY
A Potpourri of Animal Behavior
four ANIMAL MINDS AND WHAT'S IN THEM 84
five ANIMAL EMOTIONS 1OO
Passionate Natures and Animal Feelings
six PLAY, COOPERATION, AND THE I2O
EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL MORALITY
Foundations of Fairness
seven ANIMAL WELFARE, ANIMAL RIGHTS, 133
AND ANIMAL PROTECTION
eight HUMAN INTRUSIONS INTO 162
ANIMALS' LIVES
nine SCIENCE, NATURE, AND HEART 174
Minding Animals and Redecorating Nature
vii
viii Contents
ten ANIMALS AND THEOLOGY 193
Stepping Lightly with Grace, Humility,
Respect, Compassion, and Love
REFERENCES 2OI
INDEX 217
FOREWORD
Jane Goodall
Marc Bekoff has titled this beautifully written, scholarly, and exciting book
Minding Animals. He is a scientist—a cognitive ethologist—with all the
right credentials: a Ph.D. from a respected university, numerous papers
published in respected scientific journals, a position on the faculty of an-
other respected university. In addition to all this, he believes that animals
have rich emotional lives. And he loves them and admits that he loves
them. He admits it in his public speaking; he admits it in this book. He
truly wants us to mind about animals. And he provides page after fascinat-
ing page of carefully researched scientific evidence, interspersed with vivid
descriptions of the encounters he has had with a wide range of animal
species, all pointing to the complexity of animals' behavior, minds, and
feelings. Controversial issues are discussed clearly and in depth, and the
reader is allowed to make up his or her own mind.
Because Marc believes that animals, like ourselves, have rich personal
lives, he is written off as "flaky" by some of his peers. Yet Marc insists that,
even though it may be difficult for science to prove beyond all doubt that
animals have emotions, it is equally impossible for science to prove that
they do not. So animals should be given the benefit of the doubt. Marc's
stand, his willingness to speculate about issues of animal consciousness and
self-awareness, is courageous, for he is speaking within the citadel of acad-
emia, where, to maintain his position, he must publish in scientific journals
papers that have been subjected to rigorous peer review. What is encourag-
ing is the number of journals that have accepted Marc's articles on animal
emotions. Slowly the attitude of more and more scientists, of more and
ix