The History of Animals A Philosophy [Hardcover]

Oxana Timofeeva'sThe History of Animals: A Philosophyis an original and ambitious treatment of the animal question . While philosophers have always made distinctions between human beings and animals, Timofeeva imagines a world free of such walls and borders. Timofeeva shows the way towards the full acceptance of our animality; an acceptance which does not mean the return to our animal roots, or anything similar. The freedom generated by this acceptance operates through negativity; is an effect of the rejection of the very core of metaphysical philosophy and Christian culture, traditionally opposed to our 'animal' nature and seemingly detached from it.

With a foreword by Slavoj }i~ek, this book is accessible, jargon-free and ideal for students and all those interested in re-imagining how we engage with animals and the environment.

[A] unique and extensive historical analysis of various conceptions of the animal and animality in Western thought & Timofeevas scholarship is impressive ... [The] book is thought provoking and an excellent resource for those interested in the place of the animal and animality in Western thought. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. CHOICE

preface
acknowledgements

Foreword by Slavoj }i~ek
1. Oedipus the Horse
2. Before the Law
3. The Insane
4. Insecure, Anxious and Unhappy
5. Unemployed Animality
6. Dialectics of the Fish
7. The Shepherd of Being
8. Poor Life

bibliography
index

Oxana Timofeevais Senior Lecturer in Political Science and Sociology at the European University at St. Petersberg, Russia.

Slavoj }i~ekis one of the world's leading contemporary cultural critics and a hugely prolific author. He is Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, UK, and Visiting Professor at the Nl3“