What do you think?
Rate this book
The Emotional Lives of Animals (revised): A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy — and Why They Matter
A seminal exploration of animal emotion, sentience, and cognition, revised and expanded to incorporate a surge of new science
When award-winning scientist Marc Bekoff penned the first edition of this book in 2007, he predicted that over time our understanding of animal cognition and emotion would grow “richer, more accurate, and possibly different.” Since then, not only has the field seen an explosion of new and startling research, but the popular interest in the subject has grown as well, spawning countless podcasts, articles, and bestselling books.
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 light humor and compassion, The Emotional Lives of Animals is a clarion call for reassessing both how we view and how we treat animals.
When award-winning scientist Marc Bekoff penned the first edition of this book in 2007, he predicted that over time our understanding of animal cognition and emotion would grow “richer, more accurate, and possibly different.” Since then, not only has the field seen an explosion of new and startling research, but the popular interest in the subject has grown as well, spawning countless podcasts, articles, and bestselling books.
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 light humor and compassion, The Emotional Lives of Animals is a clarion call for reassessing both how we view and how we treat animals.
- GenresNonfiction
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 9, 2024
25 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Marc Bekoff
72 books249 followersPlease see http://www.literati.net/authors/marc-... and you can read my essays for Psychology Today here -- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/a... --
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 14, 2025
5/5! This book is one of my favorites this year! Truly worth reading, and as much as we all live beside animals, I highly recommend it! Personally, it makes life that much more enriching when I better understand my sweet fur babies or the local wild animals who live near me. I’m a bit biased because I looked up to Dr. Marc Beckoff during my biology degree and continue to look up to him. I highly recommend reading this book once, if only to understand the lives that don’t speak in human languages who we share this world with.
October 10, 2025
3.75⭐️ because ‘we need more RUTH (in our world), a feeling of tender compassion for the suffering of others.’
My favorite take-aways:
Animals feel a wide range of emotions, including each of Darwin’s 6 universal emotions: anger, happiness, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise.
Darwin also stressed that the differences among many species were differences in DEGREE rather than KIND.
The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they SUFFER?
I find the question “Would you do it to your dog?” is a great leveler for pessimists.
My favorite take-aways:
Animals feel a wide range of emotions, including each of Darwin’s 6 universal emotions: anger, happiness, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise.
Darwin also stressed that the differences among many species were differences in DEGREE rather than KIND.
The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they SUFFER?
I find the question “Would you do it to your dog?” is a great leveler for pessimists.
February 12, 2025
This was one of those books that I had to slowly read chunks of it at a time. Not only is it filled with information that I actually wanted to retain, but it was also kind of emotionally intense. Which is surprising for one of the more academic texts. And, honestly, there were moments throughout that I had to really pause and think about my own actions and try to see if my actions fit in with my morals (I’m human, they didn’t always. But often did). The Emotional Lives of Animals is one of those texts that I thoroughly enjoyed and will probably refer back to in the future because of the sheer amount of quality information. But, I also wouldn’t be in any hurry to reread it soon because it was just incredibly intense and at moments long-winded.
The Emotional Lives of Animals not only discusses the evidence of animals showing emotions, but also the implications of our actions. It flows very naturally – first Bekoff discusses the different pieces of evidence; the studies, the anecdotes, etc. Then he starts to tease out what some of the implications of this could be. Again, he peppers this with the evidence. Allowing the narrative go from almost entirely evidentiary support for his point that all animals have emotions to the argument that he ultimately makes, that we need to deeply consider our treatment and legislation of animals and the ways in which these emotions impact this. Bekoff manages to take a controversial (in scientific circles) topic, hold your hand and lead you to what you will feel is the logical conclusion at the end of his telling.
Although Bekoff spends the majority of The Emotional Lives of Animals emphasising empathy and care, I love that he also acknowledges the consequences of empathy burn out. Rather than just telling us to do better, he also talks about the emotional toll that doing better can take on us. And how sometimes, even when we are fighting for something that is “good”, we have to pause, take a step back and take a deep breath. Bekoff might be discussing the emotional reality of non-human animals, but he also emphasises the importance of taking care of our own emotional lives and well being.
It was actually really cathartic for me to read this book. Where Bekoff has obviously pushed through academia to make his point and fought the common contentions of what and how animals operate, I honestly couldn’t do it. A big reason (amongst a few) that I left scientific academia was the rigidity in not considering that animals have feelings and personalities. That the anecdotal evidence of the locals doesn’t actually count for anything. And just that, in general, a narrow-mindedness that I could not find myself fitting into. There is a disjoint between the academic pursuit and the personal lives of many, and Bekoff is working in a brilliant way to highlight this and overcome it.
The Emotional Lives of Animals not only discusses the evidence of animals showing emotions, but also the implications of our actions. It flows very naturally – first Bekoff discusses the different pieces of evidence; the studies, the anecdotes, etc. Then he starts to tease out what some of the implications of this could be. Again, he peppers this with the evidence. Allowing the narrative go from almost entirely evidentiary support for his point that all animals have emotions to the argument that he ultimately makes, that we need to deeply consider our treatment and legislation of animals and the ways in which these emotions impact this. Bekoff manages to take a controversial (in scientific circles) topic, hold your hand and lead you to what you will feel is the logical conclusion at the end of his telling.
Although Bekoff spends the majority of The Emotional Lives of Animals emphasising empathy and care, I love that he also acknowledges the consequences of empathy burn out. Rather than just telling us to do better, he also talks about the emotional toll that doing better can take on us. And how sometimes, even when we are fighting for something that is “good”, we have to pause, take a step back and take a deep breath. Bekoff might be discussing the emotional reality of non-human animals, but he also emphasises the importance of taking care of our own emotional lives and well being.
It was actually really cathartic for me to read this book. Where Bekoff has obviously pushed through academia to make his point and fought the common contentions of what and how animals operate, I honestly couldn’t do it. A big reason (amongst a few) that I left scientific academia was the rigidity in not considering that animals have feelings and personalities. That the anecdotal evidence of the locals doesn’t actually count for anything. And just that, in general, a narrow-mindedness that I could not find myself fitting into. There is a disjoint between the academic pursuit and the personal lives of many, and Bekoff is working in a brilliant way to highlight this and overcome it.
July 17, 2025
Wow the author captures the magic that can come from seeing, valuing & connecting with animals based on real-life stories / data. Animals have emotions, feelings, and can teach us SO much about the world & ourselves. To anyone seeking more understanding of animal sentience - this book is for YOU!
February 2, 2026
Welll presented arguments for why we need to press for rights for all beings, hard as that task will be.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews