Thinking Animals: Animals and the Development of Human Intelligence

by Paul Shepard

Overview

In a world increasingly dominated by human beings, the survival of other species becomes more and more questionable. In this brilliant book, Paul Shepard offers a provocative alternative to an "us or them" mentality, proposing that other species are integral to humanity's evolution and exist at the core of our imagination. This trait, he argues, compels us to think of animals in order to be human. Without other living species by which to measure ourselves, Shepard warns, we would be less mature, care less for and be more careless of all life, including our own kind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820319827
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	04/01/1998
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

PAUL SHEPARD (1925-1996) was Avery Professor of Natural Philosophy and Human Ecology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. He is the author of twelve books, a number of which are available from the University of Georgia Press.

PAUL SHEPARD (1925-1996) was Avery Professor of Natural Philosophy and Human Ecology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. He is the author of twelve books, a number of which are available from the University of Georgia Press.

Editorial Reviews

Published in 1982, 1973, and 1978, respectively, Shepard's titles employ animals in order to further the study of humans. His theories incorporate elements from nature as well as from mythology, literature, sociology, and numerous other concentrations.

Library Journal

First published in 1978 by University of Georgia Press, this work foreshadows the author's 1996 work, . Its central thesis is that animals profoundly shape human intelligence, and by increasingly isolating ourselves from them, we jeopardize the processes of cognitive and psychological development that are essential to human flourishing. Shepard is widely regarded as an elder of the environmental movement, whose radical and visionary ideas shaped much of our current thinking about human nature. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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