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A revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law from the renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum.
Animals are in trouble all over the world. Whether through the cruelties of the factory meat industry, poaching and game hunting, habitat destruction, or neglect of the companion animals that people purport to love, animals suffer injustice and horrors at our hands every day.
The world needs an ethical awakening, a consciousness-raising movement of international proportions. In Justice for Animals, one of the world's most influential philosophers and humanists Martha C. Nussbaum provides a revolutionary approach to animal rights, ethics, and law.
From dolphins to crows, elephants to octopuses, Nussbaum examines the entire animal kingdom, showcasing the lives of animals with wonder, awe, and compassion to understand how we can create a world in which human beings are truly friends of animals, not exploiters or users. All animals should have a shot at flourishing in their own way. Humans have a collective duty to face and solve animal harm. An urgent call to action and a manual for change, Nussbaum's groundbreaking theory directs politics and law to help us meet our ethical responsibilities as no book has done before.
Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, appointed in the Philosophy Department and the Law School of the University of Chicago. She gave the 2016 Jefferson Lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities and won the 2016 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy. The 2018 Berggruen Prize in Philosophy and Culture, and the 2020 Holberg Prize. These three prizes are regarded as the most prestigious awards available in fields not eligible for a Nobel. She has written more than twenty-two books, including Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions; Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice; Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities; and The Monarchy of Fear.
"The most important book on animal ethics written to date, Justice for Animals is a brilliant and remarkably comprehensive exploration of the ethical issues connected with human treatment of nonhumans. A milestone in the field."
– Thomas I. White, author of In Defense of Dolphins
"With urgent clarity, Martha Nussbaum explains why we must and how we can take responsibility for the multi-species world that is our reality. Justice For Animals is a celebration of the human potential for love and mutuality and a song of hope, as much as it is a steely-eyed analysis of our callous dominance of the nonhuman world."
– Amy Linch, Penn State University
"Martha Nussbaum's work has changed the humanities, but in this book her focus is startling, born of an ardent love for her late daughter and for all animals on Earth."
– Jeremy Bendik-Keymer, Case Western Reserve University, and Senior Research Fellow, Earth System Governance Project
"Martha Nussbaum takes an honest look at how animals may survive in a human-dominated world, and lays out a plan of action to help creatures great and small in important and critical ways."
– Dr. Denise Herzing, Founder and Research Director of the Wild Dolphin Project
"A provocative book. Nussbaum lays out a foundation for the political rights of animalsand asks what creating a world where animals could be our friends would look like. An essential read for anyone interested in what we owe to our fellow creatures."
– Nicolas Delon, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies, New College of Florida
"The morality of the human-animal relation urgently needs updating. We can't wish for a more insightful and compassionate guide than philosopher Martha Nussbaum. She urges us to look beyond pain and pleasure and to consider all animals, not just those that resemble us. Each species' specific needs and capabilities offer a guide of how they should be treated."
– Frans de Waal, author of Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist
"A thought-provoking guide to ethical coexistence with the diverse creatures of Earth."
– Kirkus Reviews
"This trenchant and masterful blend of political analysis, philosophical study, and call to action is a must-read."
– Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Here, as in other works, her arguments are thorough, elegantly written, and compelling – so finely tuned that Aristotle himself would need to be in top form to engage her on the subject. [...] Sure to become a classic of ethics."
– Matthew Scully, National Review
"Brilliant and accessible work. [...] All readers, not only readers already committed to animal rights, ought to read Nussbaum's new book."
– Ross Collin, Chicago Review of Books
"Nussbaum's writing is energetic and direct, full of stories and anecdotes. The book is pleasingly constructive [...] it is a virtue of this book that the mind of the author is so clearly on display."
– Dale Jamieson, Science
