The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy and Why They Matter
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- Create Date：2021-07-27 09:54:13
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Marc Bekoff
- ISBN：1577316290
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Summary
Based on award-winning scientist Marc Bekoff’s years studying social communication in a wide range of species， this important book shows that animals have rich emotional lives。 Bekoff skillfully blends extraordinary stories of animal joy， empathy， grief， embarrassment， anger， and love with the latest scientific research confirming the existence of emotions that common sense and experience have long implied。 Filled with Bekoff’s light humor and touching stories， The Emotional Lives of Animals is a clarion call for reassessing both how we view animals and how we treat them。
Reviews
Sev1
，
Nice
Mac 😀😀
，
Nice
Talya
，
Had some interesting points and good research but a ton of filler and repetition
Elif Sena Ergin
，
Bu ne bilimsizliktir。 Kitabın adı çok şey vaadediyor。 Ama anlatılanlara şüpheyle yaklaşmam gerektiğini gösteren bir kısım da vardı ki bir atın konuşmayı （？） öğrenebildiğine dair anlatılan anektot （bunun atın edimsel koşullamayla anlam yüklemeden yaptığı bir alışkanlık olduğu elbette bilinir）。 Antropomorfizm hakkındaki düşüncelerime bir katkısı olduğunu kabul ediyorum。 Antropomorfizm kötü bir şey değildir çünkü bu bizim hayvanlar hakkında konuşrken kullandığımız dildir。 Sanırım kitabın bana en ön Bu ne bilimsizliktir。 Kitabın adı çok şey vaadediyor。 Ama anlatılanlara şüpheyle yaklaşmam gerektiğini gösteren bir kısım da vardı ki bir atın konuşmayı （？） öğrenebildiğine dair anlatılan anektot （bunun atın edimsel koşullamayla anlam yüklemeden yaptığı bir alışkanlık olduğu elbette bilinir）。 Antropomorfizm hakkındaki düşüncelerime bir katkısı olduğunu kabul ediyorum。 Antropomorfizm kötü bir şey değildir çünkü bu bizim hayvanlar hakkında konuşrken kullandığımız dildir。 Sanırım kitabın bana en önemli katkısı bu oldu。 Yoksa ben zaten hayvanların duyguları olduğuna inanıyordum， ikna edilmeme gerek yoktu。Hmmm。 。。。more
Meggy
，
I love the subject matter and while I do appreciate there being some accessible books on animal behaviour， perhaps this one is a bit too basic。 I would have liked some more depth in both the philosophy and the science behind the numerous anecdotes。
UChicagoLaw
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"For a book in progress on animal law， I have been reading a lot of the wonderful scholarship animal scientists have been producing about animal cognition and emotions。 I will recommend a group of books， not just one。 Momma's Last Hug， the most recent book by the great primatologist Frans De Waal， is a moving study of animal emotions; another older book on that topic， covering many more species， is Mark Bekoff's The Emotional Lives of Animals。 Two books by philosophers who are also experts in a "For a book in progress on animal law， I have been reading a lot of the wonderful scholarship animal scientists have been producing about animal cognition and emotions。 I will recommend a group of books， not just one。 Momma's Last Hug， the most recent book by the great primatologist Frans De Waal， is a moving study of animal emotions; another older book on that topic， covering many more species， is Mark Bekoff's The Emotional Lives of Animals。 Two books by philosophers who are also experts in a particular species are Thomas White's In Defense of Dolphins and Peter Godfrey-Smith's Other Minds: The Octopus， the Sea， and the Deep Origins of Consciousness。 Finally， an amazing combination of cutting-edge research and argument is Hal Whitehead and Luke Rendell， The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins。 This is a large literature， and there is a lot more， but these books will start anyone who cares about wild animals on a fascinating journey。"—Martha C。 Nussbaum， Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics 。。。more
Keven Wang
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The stories are nice。 But the book lack depth
Katie Testa
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I think I expected more of a Chicken Soup for the Soul: Animals edition。 There were stories peppered throughout but they were at most a paragraph and mostly simply a sentence long。 His last chapter was worth the read in its entirety。 Otherwise， the book is repetitive and joyless。
Emma
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The most important practical takeaway from this book is that "well-being centers on what animals feel， not what they know" （knowledge， intelligence， and emotions aren't necessarily correlated， and the ability to suffer depends on emotions， so we shouldn't base our moral judgments on knowledge or intelligence the way a lot of people do when they say things like "it's okay to eat a fish but not a cow"）。Bekoff is more focused on practical considerations than a lot of people。 He's aware that the res The most important practical takeaway from this book is that "well-being centers on what animals feel， not what they know" （knowledge， intelligence， and emotions aren't necessarily correlated， and the ability to suffer depends on emotions， so we shouldn't base our moral judgments on knowledge or intelligence the way a lot of people do when they say things like "it's okay to eat a fish but not a cow"）。Bekoff is more focused on practical considerations than a lot of people。 He's aware that the results of science lead to decisions， so he's not afraid to talk about those decisions。 I had a history of science professor who said that most scientists hate history and philosophy of science， but Bekoff is definitely an exception-- he's willing to talk about how science is affected by who is doing it， who's funding it， who wants to profit， etc。 while a lot of people want to maintain the illusion that they are already perfectly objective and unbiased （or that their methods have the ability to filter out all bias）。He also talks more about proximate causes （neurology） than a lot of the people I've been reading。 Most people mention Tinbergen's 4 aims （function， adaptation， mechanisms， and ontogeny） but focus on function and adaptation。 There's one chapter where Bekoff is trying to talk about the intuitive knowledge you can have about what other animals are feeling because of mirror neurons and shared evolutionary history， but he calls it "anthropomorphism" and it throws the whole chapter off。 He defines anthropomorphism properly once， but then goes on to call all sorts of things anthropomorphic when they have nothing to do with humans in particular。 He even says it's anthropomorphic for humans to find other mammals' babies cute because they "look like human babies"， even after explaining that actually those baby features and the adult "cuteness" response to them are older than humans and highly conserved， so human babies look like other babies and not the other way around。 He finally quotes Robert Sapolsky on how attributing animal characteristics to animals isn't anthropomorphic， but he continues to call it "anthropomorphism"。 What's the point of using a word incorrectly just because you want to defend it？ Just admit that talking about features that multiple animal species share isn't focusing on one of those species in particular。 You always have a bias toward your own species but if you put in a lot of observation hours and you're thinking about what you're studying from the animal's perspective， you'll be fine。 。。。more
Megan
，
I appreciate the premise behind this book， that animals have emotions and humans should treat animals better。 However， the anecdotal stories could have been much more substantial， especially since most of the stories Bekoff uses to get his points across were a mere paragraph。 I want to know more about these stories and cases， a paragraph doesn't do an animal's story justice。 Although Bekoff makes some great points about animal emotions， I don't agree with everything Bekoff writes about， particul I appreciate the premise behind this book， that animals have emotions and humans should treat animals better。 However， the anecdotal stories could have been much more substantial， especially since most of the stories Bekoff uses to get his points across were a mere paragraph。 I want to know more about these stories and cases， a paragraph doesn't do an animal's story justice。 Although Bekoff makes some great points about animal emotions， I don't agree with everything Bekoff writes about， particularly as it relates to wild life。 Very readable。"Silence is the enemy of social change。" 。。。more
Tyler
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Two stars not because I disagree that animals have feelings but because the book was kind of a slog at the sentence level and the argument level。 It was at its best discussing how play demonstrates morality in animals。 Other than that， the book assumes that much is obvious and the whole thing starts to ring hollow， sadly。
Jill Gurney
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（2007） Does what it says on the tin。 Marc Bekoff describes - with scientific evidence where necessary - the emotions， attachments， sentience， consciousness etc of animals。 It obviously follows that human cruelty towards them is totally inexcusable。 And the extent of that cruelty is staggering。
Lisha Doucet
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This book has been on my reading shelf for ages and I have always been "afraid" to read it because I didn't think I could handle the descriptions of animal suffering。 Well during the COVID 19 pandemic， my library closed and as the books at my disposal became less and less I finally decided to reach out for this book。 I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually a very positive book。 I am a long time vegetarian （and recently vegan） for animal ethical reasons and though I do a lot of an This book has been on my reading shelf for ages and I have always been "afraid" to read it because I didn't think I could handle the descriptions of animal suffering。 Well during the COVID 19 pandemic， my library closed and as the books at my disposal became less and less I finally decided to reach out for this book。 I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually a very positive book。 I am a long time vegetarian （and recently vegan） for animal ethical reasons and though I do a lot of animal advocacy work some of the data on animal morality and feelings was new to me and very compelling。 I found myself watching my two fur babies more to try to determine their feelings。 。。。more
Victoria Elisabeth
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 En utrolig lærerik bok om dyrs følelser og folks benektelse av dem。 Noen av mine favorittsitater:"Noen tviler til og med på at dyrs følelser overhoder eksisterer， og mange av dem som anerkjenner dyrs følelsers eksistens， hevder allikevel at de er på et lavere nivå enn menneskers。 For meg er dette en holdning som er både utdatert og rett og slett uansvarlig， og mitt hovedmål （。。。） er å vise at dyrs følelser eksisterer， og at de er viktige for mennesker， og at denne kunnskapen bør påvirke hvordan En utrolig lærerik bok om dyrs følelser og folks benektelse av dem。 Noen av mine favorittsitater:"Noen tviler til og med på at dyrs følelser overhoder eksisterer， og mange av dem som anerkjenner dyrs følelsers eksistens， hevder allikevel at de er på et lavere nivå enn menneskers。 For meg er dette en holdning som er både utdatert og rett og slett uansvarlig， og mitt hovedmål （。。。） er å vise at dyrs følelser eksisterer， og at de er viktige for mennesker， og at denne kunnskapen bør påvirke hvordan vi behandler våre medskapninger （s。5）。Når det kommer til den ubevisste dobbeltmoralen som folk ofte har i behandlingen av dyr， finner jeg spørsmålet "ville du ha gjort det mot din egen hund" å være et godt motspørsmål。 Hvis du ikke ville gjort en ting mot din egen hund， hvorfor skulle du gjøre det mot noen andre dyr？ （s。21）。"Hvis en forsker sier at et dyr er glad， er det ingen som stiller spørsmålstegn ved det， men hvis en forsker sier at et dyr er ulykkelig， blir anklagene om antropomorfisering øyeblikkelig fremsatt （s。121） 。。。more
Sandy Oelschlegel
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kind of hard to read。
Samantha Rizzo
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An exceptional combination of common sense， compassion， and science。 All animals share a similar core of emotions。 There are many examples of what we would call empathy found in non-human animals - which until recently， was thought to be a very human emotion。 Not the human kind， but of the dog/cat/mouse kind。 Short， concise chapters。 We can learn so much from natural observation that doesn’t need to harm or exploit。I especially like the idea of awe and wonder of nature （chimp waterfall dance） wh An exceptional combination of common sense， compassion， and science。 All animals share a similar core of emotions。 There are many examples of what we would call empathy found in non-human animals - which until recently， was thought to be a very human emotion。 Not the human kind， but of the dog/cat/mouse kind。 Short， concise chapters。 We can learn so much from natural observation that doesn’t need to harm or exploit。I especially like the idea of awe and wonder of nature （chimp waterfall dance） which may be the precursor to religion。Many feel-good stories which leave no question of feeling and sentience in non-human animals。 Stresses the importance of maintaining an individual animal’s point of view when studying。 Anthropomorphism is not only necessary but an inevitable part of this。 We identify commonalities and use human language to describe what we observe - there is no alternative。 Relies heavily on anecdotes but expresses the importance of this regardless。 。。。more
Emma
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Although I appreciate what Marc Bekoff was trying to do， he relied too heavily on anecdotes to illustrate his arguments， probably in an attempt to create a book that would appeal to the general public。 While these anecdotes were interesting and often extremely moving， I don’t think they would be enough to convince anyone who didn’t already agree that animals have rich emotional lives of their own。
Giuliana Ferrari
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It's sad that Bekoff's writing is quite repetitive， because if the text was better edited I would clearly give it 4 or 4。5 stars。 The idea of the book is essential to our modern society: we are treating animals as objects， denied of their rights as beings that feel， but I feel sometimes the point is weakened by Bekoff's insistence in repeating some explanations and ideas that he literally just mentioned a couple of pages before。 So it gets a tad tiring。Still， as a biologist myself， I appreciate It's sad that Bekoff's writing is quite repetitive， because if the text was better edited I would clearly give it 4 or 4。5 stars。 The idea of the book is essential to our modern society: we are treating animals as objects， denied of their rights as beings that feel， but I feel sometimes the point is weakened by Bekoff's insistence in repeating some explanations and ideas that he literally just mentioned a couple of pages before。 So it gets a tad tiring。Still， as a biologist myself， I appreciate Bekoff's attempt to defend the very same animals that compose our 'study objects' （yes， that's how they are called in our field）。 I just hoped it was better constructed。 。。。more
Tassadanslesmyriades
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Véritable révélation ce livre devenu mon livre de chevet pendant quelques semaines m'a bouleversée。 Il contient tout ce que j'attendais， tout ce que je voulais savoir ou tout ce que je désirais voir confirmé。 Véritable révélation ce livre devenu mon livre de chevet pendant quelques semaines m'a bouleversée。 Il contient tout ce que j'attendais， tout ce que je voulais savoir ou tout ce que je désirais voir confirmé。 。。。more
Lizzy
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This is not a scientific book （despite the author’s claims）。 Bekoff cherry picks data and shoves anecdotes down your throat and it’s gaggingly saccharine。 While I do believe animals have emotions， he goes way extreme。 I wouldn’t mind if he supported his data well but his arguments are so lazy， repetitive and not convincing。 A lot of his stories don’t even really demonstrate the point he’s going for well。 It would be interesting if he delved into the complexities of animal behavior - the good and This is not a scientific book （despite the author’s claims）。 Bekoff cherry picks data and shoves anecdotes down your throat and it’s gaggingly saccharine。 While I do believe animals have emotions， he goes way extreme。 I wouldn’t mind if he supported his data well but his arguments are so lazy， repetitive and not convincing。 A lot of his stories don’t even really demonstrate the point he’s going for well。 It would be interesting if he delved into the complexities of animal behavior - the good and the ugly aspects， but every animal is a loving sensitive angel and it’s rather boring。 。。。more
General Greysorrow
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Really tugs on the heartstrings。
Caitlin
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A lot of ethology books are written defending the fact of animal sentience and emotions -- something most of us can accept easily--which often makes for a rather frustrating reading experience。 And then you get to the end of the book， and this position becomes more understandable--and horrifying。 Society has been built around the idea that animals are unfeeling， lesser things。 It's going to take a lot of work to dismantle those systems， and this book really opened my eyes to that。 Still， though A lot of ethology books are written defending the fact of animal sentience and emotions -- something most of us can accept easily--which often makes for a rather frustrating reading experience。 And then you get to the end of the book， and this position becomes more understandable--and horrifying。 Society has been built around the idea that animals are unfeeling， lesser things。 It's going to take a lot of work to dismantle those systems， and this book really opened my eyes to that。 Still， though it's understandable， I do think this sort of defensive， didactic tone undermines the message a bit。 。。。more
Michelle Hopkins
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I support all defenses of animals and their feelings; in 60 years， I’ve never been without an animal and often have lived with several。 Even so， I feel like Marc Bekoff tried to tackle his topic on too many fronts and the result was superficial on all of them。 The non-believer will not be sufficiently persuaded and the believer will not learn anything new。 I think the author may have realized this when he concluded that he only hopes people will be more reflective about animals and actions that I support all defenses of animals and their feelings; in 60 years， I’ve never been without an animal and often have lived with several。 Even so， I feel like Marc Bekoff tried to tackle his topic on too many fronts and the result was superficial on all of them。 The non-believer will not be sufficiently persuaded and the believer will not learn anything new。 I think the author may have realized this when he concluded that he only hopes people will be more reflective about animals and actions that affect them。 The anecdotes about animals are a highlight; I would have preferred more of Marc Bekoff， the animal behavioralist/observer to Marc Bekohh， the scientist （not scholarly enough for that） or Marc Bekoff， the activist （too lacking in fire and drama for that）。 The animals tell their own story for people who will watch and listen， and this is the admirable service Marc Bekoff provides。 。。。more
Kristen E。
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Amazing！！！！
ScottMF
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A book that will make you rethink how your actions and consumption of products rely on the treatment of intelligent animals。
Antonio Meridda
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Splendido libro del bravissimo dr。 Bekoff。 Unica pecca la traduzione， talvolta non accurata。 Si prendono in esame numerosi esempi di emozioni in animali non umani e del loro palese effetto。
Melodie
，
The premise of this book is to call for a reassessment of how we view animals and how their emotional lives at least to some point drive their behavior。 The author puts forth the belief that animals are thinking， feeling sentient beings as we are。 And because they are we need to reassess and change the way we study them，care for them and use them。 The book is short and readable in that I didn't have to have a dictionary beside me to understand it。 Having been written for lay people， there were The premise of this book is to call for a reassessment of how we view animals and how their emotional lives at least to some point drive their behavior。 The author puts forth the belief that animals are thinking， feeling sentient beings as we are。 And because they are we need to reassess and change the way we study them，care for them and use them。 The book is short and readable in that I didn't have to have a dictionary beside me to understand it。 Having been written for lay people， there were plenty of anecdotes to make his points。 In large part this book is preaching to the choir as those with the opposing view will probably never read it。 The other thing that bothered me is that he makes some rather sweeping generalizations。 I appreciate the courage of his convictions but as a scientist， he needs to avoid those 。 It has been my experience that while my opinions are my own， the correct answer to big questions and problems lie more toward the middle rather than the left or right。 。。。more
987643467881
，
I should preface this review with the fact that it's coming from someone who believes that if people have “emotions” then so do other sentient animals， whether or not science could ever prove this - I happen to be a big softy who just doesn't see the point of bending science in order to either validate/justify my emotional responses or to prove them to be superior/more ethical to those of others。 Of course depending on what you classify as proof， or even what you define “emotions” as （e。g。 behav I should preface this review with the fact that it's coming from someone who believes that if people have “emotions” then so do other sentient animals， whether or not science could ever prove this - I happen to be a big softy who just doesn't see the point of bending science in order to either validate/justify my emotional responses or to prove them to be superior/more ethical to those of others。 Of course depending on what you classify as proof， or even what you define “emotions” as （e。g。 behavioural patterns or neurological responses， or even as the author often implies， something more reminiscent of the elusive “soul” rather than physical reactions， etc。）， this has either already been proven or alternatively could never actually be unequivocally proven （for animals and humans alike） – which I feel actually makes the whole argument of this book entirely redundant。 The author's attempts to redefine science made me uncomfortable - playing a game of semantics with the term “science” and trying to save the world with a vegan agenda that aims to appeal to the more irrational side of human nature （as the author did in this book） never results in anything worth while。 This isn't actually a book about the science behind animal emotions， but rather an attempt to redefine what counts as scientific research and to vilify people/scientists who do not require animals to have “emotions like us” in order for them to be treated ethically， studied objectively and understood outside the anthropomorphic paradigm that the author is so desperately trying to push。 （The author putting words like objectively and scientific in quotation marks （while including a section with the title: Dogs are happy， not “happy”） and finding “no conflict” in his aim to “contribute to science and develop social relationships [with animals] at the same time” was worrisome， to say the least。 If even concepts like objectivity and terms like science are up for debate， what's next？）This was one of the rare cases that I just couldn't bring myself to read the whole book since I just completely disagreed with its whole premise; which was essentially that human behaviour and science can only be ethical if it is informed by “emotions”， those of both the animals being studied and humans/scientists， and therefore quite obviously implying that all behaviour/science that is not， is therefore somehow not only unethical， but also fundamentally wrong， as it doesn't take into account the “whole picture” - this is the mission statement that is repeated over and over again in the parts that I did manage to read through。 I also couldn't bring myself to read a book by a scientist whose stance on anthropomorphism is that it is “nothing to be ashamed of” and is something that “comes naturally” because it is “an evolved perceptual strategy; we've been shaped by natural selection to view animals in this way。” I thought it was obscene to discuss the “benefits” of anthropomorphism without even once mentioning the dangerous trap that it has lead many an animal lover/activist into and the destructive， disruptive and detrimental behaviour that it so often encourages - everything from how animals are treated in captivity right down to the exotic pet trade， etc。 Treating animals how we think they want to be treated based on our own emotions and ignoring their actual， （objectively） observable nature in favour of what we believe to be their “emotions” which are deduced through anthropomorphism， whether directly or indirectly appears to be the approach being advocated for by the author。The arguments in the book are （not so skillfully） blurred in a way that allows the author to make it a book filled with anecdotes that supposedly prove something – he says that it is already widely accepted that animals have emotions， so he doesn't need to prove this， but instead， he will prove why these emotions "matter"， which can basically be summarised in this quote:“Compassion begets compassion and caring for and loving animals spills over into compassion and caring for humans。 The umbrella of compassion is very important to share freely and widely。 […] There's nothing to fear and much to gain by being open to deep and reciprocal interactions with other animals。 Animals have in fact taught me a great deal: about responsibility， compassion， caring， forgiveness， and the value of deep friendship and love。 Animals generously share their hearts with us， and I want to do the same。 Animals respond to us because we are feeling and passionate beings， and we embrace them for the same reason。 Emotions are the gifts of our ancestors。 We have them and so do other animals。 We must never forget this。 […] By making decisions that help animals， we add compassion， not cruelty， to a “wounded world”。”This is the conclusion for what is essentially， for the most part， a compilation of anecdotes， new-agey lines about studying the metaphoric “hearts” of animals and encouraging “everyone to go where their hearts take them， with love， not fear” - despite the author claiming: “While stories drive much of my discussion， I bring in scientific studies as necessary for support”。Finally， the book is essentially preaching to the converted since it makes absolutely no arguments that a person who doesn't believe that animal emotions matter （in the sense that their treatment of animals ignores the animals' emotions， even if the person accepts that animals have them） could possibly take seriously。 The author asserts that believing animals have emotions does no harm， but believing that they don't does – that may indeed be so， but in that case， it would have made the book less pointless if the author actually provided some evidence （in the form of peer reviewed research and studies） to show 1） what percentage of people do/don't believe that animal emotions “matter”， 2） whether or not， and to what extent， their belief observably affects their treatment of animals。 I would not at all be surprised if the findings of this hypothetical research would show shocking maltreatment of animals by advocates of animal emotions （pet neglect， etc。）， and on the other hand a deep empathy for animals from the very people that the author attempts to vilify （scientists against incorporating anthropomorphism into their work， etc。）。 。。。more
Andy
，
An excellent case for treating animals as sentient beings。 It's strange that it is not universally accepted that animals have emotional lives。 The anecdotes reveal a good deal and the author is clearly well-versed in the subject， but he does an excellent job of making the prose accessible to anyone willing to read it。 An excellent case for treating animals as sentient beings。 It's strange that it is not universally accepted that animals have emotional lives。 The anecdotes reveal a good deal and the author is clearly well-versed in the subject， but he does an excellent job of making the prose accessible to anyone willing to read it。 。。。more
Mike Collins
，