Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals

by Robert W. Mitchell (Editor), Nicholas S. Thompson (Editor), H. Lyn Miles (Editor)

Robert W. Mitchell is Associate Professor of Psychology at Eastern Kentucky University and co-edited Perspectives on Human and Nonhuman Deceit , also published by SUNY Press. Nicholas S. Thompson is Professor of Psychology and Ethology at Clark University and editor of the Perspectives in Ethology series of Plenum Press. H. Lyn Miles is UC Foundation Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and Director of Project Chantek.

Genres: Academic

538 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book's 29 more-or-less overlapping essays debate how far it is possible to understand animals. The views encompass "slayers" (who prove the impossibility of mutual understanding between man and beast), skeptics, and proponents who claim success in patiently developing systems of sign communication with monkeys, sea lions, or parrots. Theoretical arguments predominate, and it was mainly the occasional story about animal behavior that perked up my ears.