Animal lessons : how they teach us to be human /

In this densely written volume, Oliver (Vanderbilt) examines the conceptual use of animals in Western philosophy. Oliver's analysis is indebted to and informed by Derrida's argument that Western philosophy (even philosophers of alterity like Heidegger and Beauvoir) was able to delineate what is properly human by the construction of the rigid human/animal binary, erasing all difference among the multitude of animals (and, Oliver claims, overlooking a potential diversity and gender exploration under the rubric "man" as well). She suggests Derrida was not interested in collapsing the difference between human and animal but in challenging any one stable border between the two and opening up one's thinking about differences. Because philosophers delineate what human is in contrast to what it is not (namely, animal), philosophy was figuratively built on the backs of animals, Oliver argues, labeling this an animal pedagogy. The animals of the annals of philosophy "bite back," she contends, by exposing philosophy's limits. Ultimately, Oliver proposes a version of Merleau-Ponty's recognition of a "strange kinship" between humans and animals through a "shared embodiment" with different styles of bodies inhabiting the world. Oliver concludes that a "sustainable ethics" is needed that recognizes our shared planet and therefore shared dependence. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers/faculty. M. A. Betz Rutgers University, Camden