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Animals, Robots, Gods: Adventures in the Moral Imagination
How do we live ethical lives alongside others? A fascinating, mind-expanding exploration of our moral universe
We have always lived with ethically significant others, whether they are the pets we keep, the gods we believe in or the machines we are endowing with life. How should we treat them as our world changes?
In Animals, Robots, Gods, acclaimed anthropologist Webb Keane provides a new vision of ethics, defined less by our minds, religion or society, and more by our interactions with those around us. Drawing on ground-breaking research by fieldworkers around the world, he explores the underpinnings of our moral universe. Along the way we investigate the ethical dilemmas of South Asian animal rights activists, Balinese cockfighters, Japanese robot fanciers -- even macho cowboys. We meet a hunter in the Yukon who explains his prey generously gives itself up to him; a cancer sufferer in Thailand who sees his tumour as a reincarnated ox; a computer that gets you to confess your anxieties as if you were on the psychiatrist's couch.
With charm, wit and insight, Keane offers us a better understanding of our doubts and certainties, showing how centuries of conversations between us and non-humans inform our conceptions of morality, and will continue to guide us in the age of AI and beyond.
We have always lived with ethically significant others, whether they are the pets we keep, the gods we believe in or the machines we are endowing with life. How should we treat them as our world changes?
In Animals, Robots, Gods, acclaimed anthropologist Webb Keane provides a new vision of ethics, defined less by our minds, religion or society, and more by our interactions with those around us. Drawing on ground-breaking research by fieldworkers around the world, he explores the underpinnings of our moral universe. Along the way we investigate the ethical dilemmas of South Asian animal rights activists, Balinese cockfighters, Japanese robot fanciers -- even macho cowboys. We meet a hunter in the Yukon who explains his prey generously gives itself up to him; a cancer sufferer in Thailand who sees his tumour as a reincarnated ox; a computer that gets you to confess your anxieties as if you were on the psychiatrist's couch.
With charm, wit and insight, Keane offers us a better understanding of our doubts and certainties, showing how centuries of conversations between us and non-humans inform our conceptions of morality, and will continue to guide us in the age of AI and beyond.
177 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 29, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 31, 2025
Pone una paradoja de moral y "humanidad" interesante sobre situaciones de la vida actual que vivimos con robots, IA y animales.
un ensayo cumplidor
un ensayo cumplidor
December 22, 2024
**Thanks to NegGalley and Allen Lane to have given me the opportunity to read this book**
(Recensione in italiano in fondo)
🇬🇧
It’s not easy to cover current topics or to discuss contemporary issues, since it misses a proper historic perspective and lack of data, or it’s difficult to produce them. At the centre of controversies, hopes, fears and popular research topic of scientific papers, research thesis and essays is surely the Artificial Intelligence, one of the many themes of “Animals, Robots, Gods”, Webb Keane’s last work. Keane covers the topic of AI in an innovative and concrete manner, giving them historicity and comparing them to other non-humans that people deal with every day, unveiling a soothing truth: this is nothing new. We’ve been dealing with superhumans, quasi-humans and non-human since ever, starting with religious and divinatory expressions; indeed, here, the AI are compared to some spiritual and animistic manifestations, such as the Oracle of Delphi or shamans. But it’s reductive to put AI at the centre of this gorgeous essay, because, here, Keane actually tries to explain how human beings build relationship with non-moral beings and with the Other, starting by animals, and with artificial lives, such as robots and cyborgs, which are not only related to science fiction, but they belong to the present as well (for example, Keane includes ICU patients and people in comatose state in the cyborg category), revealing that anthropology can be an efficient key to interpret our time. An original research and a well-written and fluid book. I’d have preferred that the author could go more in depth sometimes, but I consider this essay an amazing discovery.
🇮🇹
Non è semplice trattare temi di attualità o discutere di problematiche della contemporaneità, poiché manca una prospettiva storica adeguata e una scarca quantità di dati, o difficoltà a produrne. Al centro di polemiche, speranza, timori e argomento di ricerca di articoli scientifici, tesi di ricerca e saggi sono sicuramente le Intelligenze Artificiali, una delle molte tematiche di “Animals, Robots, Gods”, l’ultima fatica di Webb Keane. Keane tratta in maniera innovativa e concreta le IA ponendole nella storicità e paragonandole alle altre forme non-umane verso le quali le persone si relazionano tutti giorni, svelando una consolatoria verità: che tutto questo non è niente di nuovo. Ci raffrontiamo con gli esseri sovrumani, quasi-umani e non-umani da sempre, partendo dalle forme religiose e divinatorie; qui, infatti, le IA sono paragonate ad alcune manifestazioni spirituali e animistiche, come gli Oracoli di Delfi o gli sciamani. Ma è riduttivo porre al centro di questo splendido saggio il tema delle IA, perché qui Keane in realtà si pone la questione di esplicare come gli essere umani si raffrontano con gli esseri non-morali e con l’Altro, a partire dagli animali, e con espressioni di vite artificiali, come i robot e i cyborg, non tema da fantascienza, ma assolutamente attuali (per esempio, Keane fa rientrare nella categoria dei cyborg i pazienti in terapia intensiva e/o in statale comatoso), svelandoci che l’antropologia è un’efficace chiave di lettura dell’attualità. Una ricerca originale e un libro ben scritto e molto scorrevole. Avrei preferito maggiori approfondimenti, ma ritengo questo saggio una meravigliosa scoperta.
(Recensione in italiano in fondo)
🇬🇧
It’s not easy to cover current topics or to discuss contemporary issues, since it misses a proper historic perspective and lack of data, or it’s difficult to produce them. At the centre of controversies, hopes, fears and popular research topic of scientific papers, research thesis and essays is surely the Artificial Intelligence, one of the many themes of “Animals, Robots, Gods”, Webb Keane’s last work. Keane covers the topic of AI in an innovative and concrete manner, giving them historicity and comparing them to other non-humans that people deal with every day, unveiling a soothing truth: this is nothing new. We’ve been dealing with superhumans, quasi-humans and non-human since ever, starting with religious and divinatory expressions; indeed, here, the AI are compared to some spiritual and animistic manifestations, such as the Oracle of Delphi or shamans. But it’s reductive to put AI at the centre of this gorgeous essay, because, here, Keane actually tries to explain how human beings build relationship with non-moral beings and with the Other, starting by animals, and with artificial lives, such as robots and cyborgs, which are not only related to science fiction, but they belong to the present as well (for example, Keane includes ICU patients and people in comatose state in the cyborg category), revealing that anthropology can be an efficient key to interpret our time. An original research and a well-written and fluid book. I’d have preferred that the author could go more in depth sometimes, but I consider this essay an amazing discovery.
🇮🇹
Non è semplice trattare temi di attualità o discutere di problematiche della contemporaneità, poiché manca una prospettiva storica adeguata e una scarca quantità di dati, o difficoltà a produrne. Al centro di polemiche, speranza, timori e argomento di ricerca di articoli scientifici, tesi di ricerca e saggi sono sicuramente le Intelligenze Artificiali, una delle molte tematiche di “Animals, Robots, Gods”, l’ultima fatica di Webb Keane. Keane tratta in maniera innovativa e concreta le IA ponendole nella storicità e paragonandole alle altre forme non-umane verso le quali le persone si relazionano tutti giorni, svelando una consolatoria verità: che tutto questo non è niente di nuovo. Ci raffrontiamo con gli esseri sovrumani, quasi-umani e non-umani da sempre, partendo dalle forme religiose e divinatorie; qui, infatti, le IA sono paragonate ad alcune manifestazioni spirituali e animistiche, come gli Oracoli di Delfi o gli sciamani. Ma è riduttivo porre al centro di questo splendido saggio il tema delle IA, perché qui Keane in realtà si pone la questione di esplicare come gli essere umani si raffrontano con gli esseri non-morali e con l’Altro, a partire dagli animali, e con espressioni di vite artificiali, come i robot e i cyborg, non tema da fantascienza, ma assolutamente attuali (per esempio, Keane fa rientrare nella categoria dei cyborg i pazienti in terapia intensiva e/o in statale comatoso), svelandoci che l’antropologia è un’efficace chiave di lettura dell’attualità. Una ricerca originale e un libro ben scritto e molto scorrevole. Avrei preferito maggiori approfondimenti, ma ritengo questo saggio una meravigliosa scoperta.
October 5, 2025
from Grok
### 《動物、機器人、神靈：道德想像力的冒險》精華摘要
這本書由美國密西根大學人類學教授 **Webb Keane（韋伯·基恩）** 於 2025 年出版（普林斯頓大學出版社，英國版由 Allen Lane 發行），是一本融合人類學、哲學與倫理學的跨學科著作。書名「Animals, Robots, Gods: Adventures in the Moral Imagination」意指人類道德世界總是與非人類（如動物、AI、神靈）交織，作者透過全球田野調查與歷史案例，挑戰傳統道德觀——道德不是源自個體理性或社會規範，而是來自日常互動與想像力。Keane 主張，在 AI 時代，我們需擴大「道德想像力」（moral imagination），重新思考誰（或什麼）值得道德考量。全書約 182 頁，語言優雅、案例生動，適合對倫理、科技與文化感興趣的讀者。
#### 核心論點與主題
- **道德的互動本質**：Keane 強調道德不是抽象原則，而是透過與「他者」（others）的互動產生。這些他者包括動物（活生生的夥伴）、機器人（人造生命）與神靈（超自然存在）。人類總在「邊緣地帶」（edges of the human）測試道德界線，如 AI 是否有權利？動物是否能「同意」被獵殺？這不是新問題——古今中外，人類已透過神話、儀式與科技探索類似議題。
- **道德想像力的擴張**：書中批評西方哲學（如康德）的「第一人稱視角」（first-person perspective），主張採用「第三人稱視角」（third-person perspective），即從旁觀者角度看待世界。這能打破自我中心，包容多元文化觀點（如佛教的轉世或原住民的動植物靈魂）。在科技時代，這有助應對 AI 道德困境，如自動駕駛車的「道德機器」實驗（誰該犧牲？）。
- **文化與科技的交匯**：Keane 結合全球案例，顯示道德如何因文化而異。西方視 AI 為工具，東方（如日本）可能視其為夥伴；原住民獵人視動物為「贈禮者」，而非獵物。這警示 AI 發展不能忽略文化差異，否則會引發「道德恐慌」（moral panic）。
#### 書籍結構與精華洞見
書分多章，從人類學視角出發，逐漸展開道德冒險：
1. **引言：道德邊界**：介紹道德想像力的概念，討論人類與非人類的模糊界線。洞見：道德不是固定圈子（moral circle），而是滲透性邊界，隨互動變化。
2. **與動物的互動**：探討動物在道德世界中的角色。例子：加拿大育空河谷（Yukon）的原住民獵人，會對熊說話，解釋「為什麼你必須出來並慷慨犧牲自己給我」，視熊為有道德主體的夥伴，而非單純獵物。這反映「互惠道德」（reciprocity），熊「同意」被殺以維持生態平衡。 另一例：在泰國，一位癌症患者視腫瘤為轉世牛靈魂，透過儀式與之溝通，試圖化解「業力」衝突。這挑戰西方醫學的「客體化」視角。
3. **與神靈的對話**：分析超自然存在如何塑造道德。例子：印尼蘇門答臘的馬拉普人（Marapu）相信祖靈附身於物件，需透過祭祀維持道德義務。Keane 比較這與基督教的「靈言」（glossolalia），顯示神靈如何成為道德「他者」，影響人類決策。
4. **與機器人的倫理**：聚焦 AI 與機器人。例子：日本的機器人伴侶（如 Pepper 機器人），用戶視其為有情感的夥伴，引發「戀愛」道德議題。另一例：聊天機器人（如早期 ELIZA）說服用戶像在精神科醫生沙發上傾訴焦慮，模糊人機界線。Keane 想像「儒家機器人」（Confucian robots），探討若 AI 融入東方文化，會如何重塑道德（如強調和諧而非個體權利）。
5. **結論：未來道德**：總結在 AI 時代，道德想像力如何幫助我們應對新挑戰，如器官移植（視捐贈者為「轉世」）或腦死定義（誰算「活著」？）。洞見：科技不是中立，而是延續古老道德對話。
#### 為何值得讀？（評論精選）
- 「一本迷人的道德探險，Keane 透過全球故事，讓我們重新思考 AI 時代的倫理。」——《紐約時報》書評。
- 「引人入勝的人類學視角，顯示道德源自想像而非原則。」——《新科學人》雜誌。
- 「適合 AI 倫理討論的讀物，充滿魅力與洞見。」——Goodreads 讀者平均 4.0 分。
總結：這書不只是倫理指南，更是邀請讀者擴大視野，透過動物、機器人與神靈的鏡子，反思自身道德世界。精華在於：道德是互動的冒險，非靜態規則。在快速變遷的時代，這有助我們面對如 ChatGPT 或機器人伴侶的挑戰。若想深入，推薦聽 New Books Network 的 podcast 訪談，或閱讀作者先前著作《Ethical Life》。
### 《動物、機器人、神靈：道德想像力的冒險》精華摘要
這本書由美國密西根大學人類學教授 **Webb Keane（韋伯·基恩）** 於 2025 年出版（普林斯頓大學出版社，英國版由 Allen Lane 發行），是一本融合人類學、哲學與倫理學的跨學科著作。書名「Animals, Robots, Gods: Adventures in the Moral Imagination」意指人類道德世界總是與非人類（如動物、AI、神靈）交織，作者透過全球田野調查與歷史案例，挑戰傳統道德觀——道德不是源自個體理性或社會規範，而是來自日常互動與想像力。Keane 主張，在 AI 時代，我們需擴大「道德想像力」（moral imagination），重新思考誰（或什麼）值得道德考量。全書約 182 頁，語言優雅、案例生動，適合對倫理、科技與文化感興趣的讀者。
#### 核心論點與主題
- **道德的互動本質**：Keane 強調道德不是抽象原則，而是透過與「他者」（others）的互動產生。這些他者包括動物（活生生的夥伴）、機器人（人造生命）與神靈（超自然存在）。人類總在「邊緣地帶」（edges of the human）測試道德界線，如 AI 是否有權利？動物是否能「同意」被獵殺？這不是新問題——古今中外，人類已透過神話、儀式與科技探索類似議題。
- **道德想像力的擴張**：書中批評西方哲學（如康德）的「第一人稱視角」（first-person perspective），主張採用「第三人稱視角」（third-person perspective），即從旁觀者角度看待世界。這能打破自我中心，包容多元文化觀點（如佛教的轉世或原住民的動植物靈魂）。在科技時代，這有助應對 AI 道德困境，如自動駕駛車的「道德機器」實驗（誰該犧牲？）。
- **文化與科技的交匯**：Keane 結合全球案例，顯示道德如何因文化而異。西方視 AI 為工具，東方（如日本）可能視其為夥伴；原住民獵人視動物為「贈禮者」，而非獵物。這警示 AI 發展不能忽略文化差異，否則會引發「道德恐慌」（moral panic）。
#### 書籍結構與精華洞見
書分多章，從人類學視角出發，逐漸展開道德冒險：
1. **引言：道德邊界**：介紹道德想像力的概念，討論人類與非人類的模糊界線。洞見：道德不是固定圈子（moral circle），而是滲透性邊界，隨互動變化。
2. **與動物的互動**：探討動物在道德世界中的角色。例子：加拿大育空河谷（Yukon）的原住民獵人，會對熊說話，解釋「為什麼你必須出來並慷慨犧牲自己給我」，視熊為有道德主體的夥伴，而非單純獵物。這反映「互惠道德」（reciprocity），熊「同意」被殺以維持生態平衡。 另一例：在泰國，一位癌症患者視腫瘤為轉世牛靈魂，透過儀式與之溝通，試圖化解「業力」衝突。這挑戰西方醫學的「客體化」視角。
3. **與神靈的對話**：分析超自然存在如何塑造道德。例子：印尼蘇門答臘的馬拉普人（Marapu）相信祖靈附身於物件，需透過祭祀維持道德義務。Keane 比較這與基督教的「靈言」（glossolalia），顯示神靈如何成為道德「他者」，影響人類決策。
4. **與機器人的倫理**：聚焦 AI 與機器人。例子：日本的機器人伴侶（如 Pepper 機器人），用戶視其為有情感的夥伴，引發「戀愛」道德議題。另一例：聊天機器人（如早期 ELIZA）說服用戶像在精神科醫生沙發上傾訴焦慮，模糊人機界線。Keane 想像「儒家機器人」（Confucian robots），探討若 AI 融入東方文化，會如何重塑道德（如強調和諧而非個體權利）。
5. **結論：未來道德**：總結在 AI 時代，道德想像力如何幫助我們應對新挑戰，如器官移植（視捐贈者為「轉世」）或腦死定義（誰算「活著」？）。洞見：科技不是中立，而是延續古老道德對話。
#### 為何值得讀？（評論精選）
- 「一本迷人的道德探險，Keane 透過全球故事，讓我們重新思考 AI 時代的倫理。」——《紐約時報》書評。
- 「引人入勝的人類學視角，顯示道德源自想像而非原則。」——《新科學人》雜誌。
- 「適合 AI 倫理討論的讀物，充滿魅力與洞見。」——Goodreads 讀者平均 4.0 分。
總結：這書不只是倫理指南，更是邀請讀者擴大視野，透過動物、機器人與神靈的鏡子，反思自身道德世界。精華在於：道德是互動的冒險，非靜態規則。在快速變遷的時代，這有助我們面對如 ChatGPT 或機器人伴侶的挑戰。若想深入，推薦聽 New Books Network 的 podcast 訪談，或閱讀作者先前著作《Ethical Life》。
September 16, 2025
Very interesting contents. The book really makes you think about a variety of topics and references lots of different studies to support his claims. It’s impressive how much can be said in such a short book, yet it didn’t feel rushed. He certainly raises some intriguing philosophical questions, including many that I hadn’t considered previously.
The author does express some views that were very left wing and, whilst I have no issue with someone having different views to me (I’m conservative), I certainly questioned some of the things he said. For example, the author claims that one significant issue with robots in Japan is that they can be used to reinforce traditional gender roles, which I personally do not think is a problem. He also does lean too far into the ‘eurocentrism is terrible’ and cultural moral relativism for my liking. Although, thankfully he appears to admit that just because something is deemed acceptable within a certain culture/religion doesn’t actually make it moral.
I did find his conclusion, which was essentially ‘different people in different countries/communities have different perspectives about morality’, rather unsatisfactory. I understand that it both helps the reader develop their own opinion and also that it can be difficult to reach conclusions on philosophical topics, but still expected better.
I wanted to give it 3.5/5, but Goodreads doesn’t provide the option so I rounded up.
The author does express some views that were very left wing and, whilst I have no issue with someone having different views to me (I’m conservative), I certainly questioned some of the things he said. For example, the author claims that one significant issue with robots in Japan is that they can be used to reinforce traditional gender roles, which I personally do not think is a problem. He also does lean too far into the ‘eurocentrism is terrible’ and cultural moral relativism for my liking. Although, thankfully he appears to admit that just because something is deemed acceptable within a certain culture/religion doesn’t actually make it moral.
I did find his conclusion, which was essentially ‘different people in different countries/communities have different perspectives about morality’, rather unsatisfactory. I understand that it both helps the reader develop their own opinion and also that it can be difficult to reach conclusions on philosophical topics, but still expected better.
I wanted to give it 3.5/5, but Goodreads doesn’t provide the option so I rounded up.
February 7, 2025
This is a fascinating and innovative take on ethics and morality within a framework of computers and artificial intelligence. It is an essay on the human condition taking in philosophy, psychology, politics, sociology, and, of course, science. The topics are deep and well argued but the book can easily be read by a layperson. There’s no academic grandstanding, just good writing.
The content ranges from patients in ITU’s being like cyborgs (and why is it more difficult to decide a course of action when asked "should we remove the machines and let her die?” against "shall we switch off life support and let nature take its course?”), through cows in India (because they’re sacred they cannot be killed therefore they’re left to have painful slow deaths), to robots in Japan (why do people in the west find realistic robots slightly creepy but Japanese people don’t?).
This is a stimulating, thought provoking read and it’s the sort of book you think about after you close the covers. I’ll be reading it again.
I was given a copy of the book by NetGalley.
The content ranges from patients in ITU’s being like cyborgs (and why is it more difficult to decide a course of action when asked "should we remove the machines and let her die?” against "shall we switch off life support and let nature take its course?”), through cows in India (because they’re sacred they cannot be killed therefore they’re left to have painful slow deaths), to robots in Japan (why do people in the west find realistic robots slightly creepy but Japanese people don’t?).
This is a stimulating, thought provoking read and it’s the sort of book you think about after you close the covers. I’ll be reading it again.
I was given a copy of the book by NetGalley.
July 3, 2025
Was not really a fan. An anthropologist’s attempt at philosophical reasoning that led to rather benign and uninspiring conclusions. I also did not enjoy having the trolley problem explained to me like I am five. This is probably a great introduction to ethical theory for an anthropologist, but it is painful for anyone who is in touch with the field of philosophy. His conclusion is that morality is relative. How boring.
But there were some cool examples. Fun stories and interesting studies. It’s just the connective tissue I did not enjoy.
But there were some cool examples. Fun stories and interesting studies. It’s just the connective tissue I did not enjoy.
July 5, 2025
Leído en audiolibro. Bueno, aunque esperaba un poco más de profundidad en la exploración ética de estos temas. (Quizá porque la perspectiva es más antropológica que filosófica). Me fascina la línea conectiva que traza el autor entre los animales, la inteligencia artificial, e incluso los seres sobre-humanos, y me hubiera gustado que explorara de manera más amplia lo que implica nuestra relación con cada uno de esos “seres”. En cambio, se queda en una especie de diagnóstico, y de delimitación del problema, que no deja de ser interesante, pero falla en sus ultimísimas consecuencias.
June 10, 2025
The comparison between oracles/shamans high on drugs and chatGPT was entertaining but not much else. There are too many tangents like the speaking in tongues or the repeated examples of people in hospital on life support for the book to have any coherent message. I can't tell if the author is putting any credence into paranormal beliefs or is just using them as analogies.
August 6, 2025
The main question of the book and the methodology were very interesting. Various examples from rituals and tribes around the world are helping to find the nuanced points the author is trying to convey. I am working closely in the field of Human and Machine, and I can see how a point of view like this was missed in the landscape of this conversation.
May 7, 2025
Cool premise, and I was excited to read it, but while the philosophies were interesting, the examples were so far removed from readers’ lives, it was hard to apply. Read a little too much like a textbook for me.
June 12, 2025
Interestingly and captivatingly written anthropological review of the ethical and moral relationship between humans and ai and robots. A great insight into how humans have developed different moral attitudes to animals and quasi-humans.
July 18, 2025
I love reading books written by anthropologists. So many perspectives that are original (to me). This book showcases the author’s expertise in this field.
The comparison between the western vs eastern cultures views on AI, robots really something we need to start paying attention to.
The comparison between the western vs eastern cultures views on AI, robots really something we need to start paying attention to.
September 29, 2024
Overall, below average. some discussion of morality with animals and robots but not the way I expected, and examples are not that interesting.
July 17, 2025
thank you engelke for asking webb keane to write for general readers
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