The Animal Catalyst : Towards Ahuman Theory

ISBN-13: 9781472534446 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 224 str.

Patricia MacCormack

Opis

The Animal Catalyst deals with the 'question' of 'what is an animal' and also in some instances, 'what is a human'? It pushes critical animal studies in important new directions; it re-examines basic assumptions, suggests new paradigms for how we can live and function ecologically, in a world that is not simply "ours." It argues that it is not enough to recognise the ethical demands placed upon us by our encounters with animals, or to critique our often murderous treatment of them: this simply reinforces human exceptionalism. Featuring contributions from leading academics, lawyers, artists and activists, the book examines key issues such as: - How "compassion" for animals reinforces ideas of what distinguishes human beings from other animals.
- How speciesism and human centricity are built into the legal system.
- How individualist subjectivity works in relation to animals who may not think of themselves in the same way.
- How any consideration of animal others must involve a radical deconstruction of our very notion of the "human."
- How art, philosophy and literature can both avoid speciesism and deliver the human from subjectivity.This volume is a unique project which stands at the cutting edge of both animal rights philosophies and posthuman/artistic/abstract philosophies of identity. It will be of great interest to undergraduates and researchers in philosophy, ethics, particularly continental philosophy, critical theory and cultural studies.

Spis treści

Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction, Patricia MacCormack Part I: New Abolitionist Approaches 1. The War on Compassion, Carol J. Adams 2. Legal Technology Confronts Speciesism or We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us, John T. Maher 3. ‘Beyond’ the Singular? Ecology, Subjectivity, Politics, Danielle Sands Part II: Animal Mediators: Philosophy, Film, Literature 4. ‘Etre aux aguets’: Deleuze, Creation and Territorialization, Charles J. Stivale 5. ‘Out of the Labyrinth, into the Métro: Becoming-animal, the Waking Dream and Movements of World in Raymond Queneau and Louis Malle’s Zazie dans le métro.’, Colin Gardner 6. The Animal That Therefore I Am Not: Inhuman Mediations on the Ultimate Degeneration of Bios and Zoe via the Inevitable Process of Phenomenophagism, Charlie Blake 7. The Taste of Living, Chrysanthi Nigianni Part III: Ahumanity: A Liberation of Life 8. Suicide for Animals, Claire Colebrook 9. Dark Pedagogy, Jason Wallin 10. Self-Harm, Human Harm?, Ruth McPhee 11. After Life, Patricia MacCormack Bibliography Index