The death of the animal : a dialogue /

This small book is full of large issues: philosophical reflection on the moral status of animals, the ethics-metaphysics relationship, the is/ought distinction, the relationship between analytic and Continental philosophy, the role of reason and argument in ethics, and more. Not that the book provides complete analyses of all these important issues; rather, it aptly raises the other issues while discussing the status of animals, demonstrating thereby the intricate relationships among them. Cavalieri (editor, Etica & Animali) begins with a Platonic-type dialogue that argues cogently that one's concept of "the animal" relies on perfectionism, the unjustifiable view that entities possessing certain desirable traits are morally superior to entities without those traits. In a series of short essays that follow, several other prominent thinkers join Cavalieri for a provocative discussion of "the animal" and the many other questions that swirl around that issue. They include analytic and Continental philosophers (Harlan Miller and Matthew Calarco, respectively), the novelist John M. Coetzee, and the literary thinker Cary Wolfe. Readers will find much to agree and disagree with throughout. This stimulating, unique book could have many uses in academic contexts. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above. W. Ouderkirk SUNY Empire State College