1st Edition

Animals in Greek and Roman Thought A Sourcebook

160 Pages
by Routledge

158 Pages
by Routledge

160 Pages
by Routledge

Although reasoned discourse on human-animal relations is often considered a late twentieth-century phenomenon, ethical debate over animals and how humans should treat them can be traced back to the philosophers and literati of the classical world. From Stoic assertions that humans owe nothing to animals that are intellectually foreign to them, to Plutarch's impassioned arguments for animals as... Read more

Part 1. Animals as Beings A. The Intellect of Animals: Rational or Irrational? B. Human-Animal Kinship C. Animal Behaviors 1. Introductory 2. Rearing Offspring 3. Relation to the Environment: Prey and Predators  4. Helping Behaviors  5. Skills and Shortcomings 6. The Language of Animals  Part 2. Human-Animal Relations  A Animals as Moral Beings  1. Justice toward Animals  2. Justice from Animals  B. Animals as Offerings : Hunting and Sacrifice  C. Animals as Food: Vegetarianism and Its Opponents D. Animals as Sport: The Arena  E. Animals as Friends: Kindness to Animals   Texts Consulted  Bibliography Passages Discussed

Biography

Stephen T. Newmyer is Professor of Classics at the University of Pittsburgh. 

'For students and scholars of the ancient world new to the subject of animal studies, Newmyer’s sourcebook offers an excellent introduction. Individuals interested in the history of western thought on animals and the origins of the animal rights debate might be surprised to discover just how relevant ancient discourse concerning animal characteristics and what, if anything, human beings owe non-human animals is to contemporary debates. ... I would eagerly include it among the required texts in an interdisciplinary humanities course focusing on the ancient environment, Greek and Roman attitudes towards nature, or animals in antiquity.'
– Susan A. Curry, The University of New Hampshire, Bryn Mawr Classical Review