Animals, Emotion, and Morality

"It seems obvious that animals have emotions. Dogs bark with excitement when their masters return home, cats hiss aggressively at the approach of a stranger, and even wild chimps exhibit empathy toward one another. Our ordinary ways of talking about animals suggest that animals and humans are emotional kin." "In this fascinating exploration of our emotional kinship with animals, philosopher B.A. Dixon invites the reader to consider what is philosophically controversial about the idea that animals have emotions. Dixon guides the reader through a jungle of philosophical issues related to the concept of emotion and the various ways in which emotions are morally significant. She demonstrates that claims about animal emotion often stand in for a more fundamental property it is believed that animals and humans share - namely, morality." "Scholars as well as the general public will enjoy the stories and anecdotes about animals in each chapter that initiate the author's philosophical analyses."--Jacket.