Creatures Like Us? Lynne Sharpe 225 pages £17.95/$34.90 1845400178 (pbk.) April 2005 'An impressive and carefully-written book', Peter Atterton, Times Literary Supplement 'Scholarly and well-argued', Resurgence 'A lively and astute book which does a badly-needed job in clearing out a pile of bad philosophy. Anyone interested in understanding the position of animals will surely enjoy it and find it helpful.' Mary Midgley 'Written with superb clarity as all good philosophy should be. Lynne Sharpe powerfully champions animals and asserts that the planet is no more ours than theirs.' Richard Ryder Search Inside the Book at Amazon.com Search Inside the Book at Amazon.co.uk purchase this book (secure order form)

As a child brought up among animals, Lynne Sharpe never doubted they were essentially ‘creatures like us’. It came as a shock to learn that others did not agree. Here she exposes the bizarre way in which many philosophers — including even some great and humane ones — have repeatedly talked and written about animals. They have discussed the topic in terms of non-existent abstract ‘animals’, conceived as defective humans, entirely neglecting the experience of people who have wide practical knowledge of companion animals — such as horses and dogs — through working with them. She testifies to the interesting nature of these creatures’ lives, noting that the usual narrow approach to animals carries with it also a distorted notion of human life as essentially cerebral and language-centred.

"Creatures Like Us? is written with great lucidity, and the opposing arguments are subjected to close scrutiny.  The book is valuable not only to those interested in animal rights, but also to those who are sympathetic to the social conception of moral status and personhood."  Tuomas W. Manninen, Metapsychology

Introduction

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Us and Them
2. Friends and Neighbours
3. Nearest and Dearest
4. Beyond the Pale
5. Creatures Like Us
Epilogue: Dogs, Frogs and Extraterrestrials
References
Index