Cognitive kin, moral strangers? : : linking animal cognition, animal ethics & animal welfare / / by Judith Benz-Schwarzburg ; translation prepared by Mark Kanak ; edited by Susana Monsó, Evan White, Judith Benz-Schwarzburg.

• Superior document: Human-animal studies ; Volume 23
• VerfasserIn: Benz-Schwarzburg, Judith,
• TeilnehmendeR: Kanak, Mark,; Monsó, Susana,; White, Evan,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2020.; ©2012
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English; German
• Series: Human-animal studies ; Volume 23.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource
• Notes: "Originally published as Verwandte im Geiste - Fremde im Recht : sozio-kognitive Fähigkeiten bei Tieren und ihre Relevanz für Tierethik und Tierschutz. Copyright © 2012 by Harald Fischer Verlag GmbH, Erlangen"--Title page verso.

In Cognitive Kin, Moral Strangers? , Judith Benz-Schwarzburg reveals the scope and relevance of cognitive kinship between humans and non-human animals. She presents a wide range of empirical studies on culture, language and theory of mind in animals and then leads us to ask why such complex socio-cognitive abilities in animals matter. Her focus is on ethical theory as well as on the practical ways in which we use animals. Are great apes maybe better described as non-human persons? Should we really use dolphins as entertainers or therapists? Benz-Schwarzburg demonstrates how much we know already about animals’ capabilities and needs and how this knowledge should inform the ways in which we treat animals in captivity and in the wild.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Socio-Cognitive Abilities in Animals as the Object of Science—and What Has Been Neglected Thus Far -- Questions and Objectives of the Book -- Socio-Cognitive Abilities in Animals -- The Concept of Cognition and the Concept of Consciousness -- Culture in Animals? -- Language in Animals? -- Theory of Mind in Animals? -- Summary and Transition -- The Relevance of Socio-Cognitive Abilities in Animals for Animal Ethics and Animal Welfare -- Kinship and Responsibility: the Moral Status of Animals -- Kinship and Responsibility: the Discrepancy between Ethical Demands and the Status Quo -- Summary -- Discussion -- Cognitive Kinship and the Concept of an Evolutionary Self -- A Comparison of Arguments -- Possibilities of Modifying Personhood Rights for Animals -- Alternative: Turn the Focus Back to the Suffering of Animals? -- Final Evaluation of Personhood Rights for Animals -- Back Matter -- Acknowledgments -- Bibliography -- Index.