If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connection with Animals
(Part of the Animals, Culture, and Society Series)
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Book Overview
Nearly everyone who cares about dogs or cats knows that they have a sense of self that renders them unique. Yet traditional science and philosophy declare such feelings irrational and anthropomorphic. Animals, they say, have only the crudest form of thought and no sense of self at all. Leslie Irvine's If You Tame Me challenges these entrenched views by demonstrating that our experience of animals and their behavior tell a different story. In particular, dogs and cats have been significant elements in human history and valued members of our households for centuries. Why do we regard these companions as having distinct personalities and as being irreplaceable? Irvine looks closely at how people form connections with dogs and cats available for adoption in a shelter and reflects on her own relationships with animals. If You Tame Me makes a persuasive case for the existence of a sense of self in companion animals and calls upon us to reconsider our rights and obligations regarding the non-human creatures in our lives.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1592132413
ISBN13:9781592132416
Release Date:March 2004
Publisher:Temple University Press
Length:223 Pages
Weight:1.35 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
Another GOOD BOOK!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
This is a book highly recommended by people in the know about living with animals. I wish there was a book like this about humans.
Interesting & Insightful
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
This book was a pleasure to read. It expresses many ideas I've had myself (and that you've probably had, too) but more deeply and eloquently than I would ever have dreamed possible. Irvine ties so many different observations, facts, and feelings into a comprehensive framework that makes perfect sense. I would caution the prospective buyer that this book would probably be too difficult a read for someone who hasn't received some college-level instruction in the social sciences and the philosophy of science.
The human animal connection
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
This book is very thought provoking and efficiently reviews several perspectives regarding the connection between humans and animals. It is very well written and succintly conceptualizes the human-animal bond.
Wonderfully inspiring read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Leslie Irvine's voice provides those in animal science, animal welfare and just plan animal lovers with a new insight into the psychological relationship of the human-animal bond. A compelling theoretical read with real-life examples. A must have in any animal welfare/animal social policy or human-animal bond literature. Kate Nicoll, MSW Soul Friends, Inc.
Thought provoking and thoroughly enjoyable
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Sociologist Dr Leslie Irvine's If You Tame Me is a very important and inspiring book. It will be of great interest to all who love animals and are concerned about their welfare. If you sense a kinship with nonhuman animals and the natural world, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. It is very well-written and well researched. It takes many of the assumptions that we commonly make about the animal "other" and skilfully dismantles them to reveal pernicious social constructs that should stimulate us all to be more cognizant of how we treat other species. I couldn't put it down!
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