In this Book
- If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connection With Animals
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: Temple University Press
- Series: Animals Culture And Society
summary
Nearly everyone who cares about them believes that dogs and cats have a sense of self that renders them unique. Traditional science and philosophy declare such notions about our pets to be irrational and anthropomorphic. Animals, they say, have only the crudest form of thought and no sense of self at all. Leslie Irvine's If You Tame Me challenges these entrenched views by demonstrating that our experience of animals and their behavior tells a different story. Dogs and cats have been significant elements in human history and valued members of our households for centuries. Why do we regard these companions as having distinct personalities and as being irreplaceable? Leslie Irvine looks closely at how people form "connections" with dogs and cats available in adoption shelters and reflects on her own relationships with animals. If You Tame Me makes a persuasive case for the existence of a sense of self in companion animals and calls upon us to reconsider our rights and obligations regarding the non-human creatures in our lives.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- p. xiii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-11
- 1 How and Why
- pp. 12-32
- 2 Them and Us
- pp. 33-56
- 3 From Pets to Companion Animals
- pp. 57-77
- 5 The Adopters: Making a Match
- pp. 89-115
- 6 Rethinking the Self: Mead’s Myopia
- pp. 116-125
- 7 Self versus Other: The Core Self
- pp. 126-146
- 8 Self with Other: Intersubjectivity
- pp. 172-171
- Conclusion: Putting Theory into Practice
- pp. 172-184
- Appendix: Methods
- pp. 185-189
- References
- pp. 203-217
Additional Information
ISBN
9781592137916
Related ISBN(s)
9781592132409, 9781592132416
MARC Record
OCLC
232160247
Pages
240
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2004