Passionate Animals: Emotions, Animal Ethics, and Moral Pragmatics draws on the theoretical achievements made in ethics, political philosophy, and human-animal studies, addressing the problem that these advancements have not resulted in practical change toward significantly improved human-animal-relations. Mara-Daria Cojocaru argues that this gap between theory and action can close only if humans live up to the task of becoming passionate animals themselves—and passionate about animals as well. In the tradition of philosophical pragmatism and with reference to congenial thinkers like Mary Midgley, Cojocaru develops a moral pragmatics that highlights the role of emotions in moral and political life and focuses on the institutions necessary to make tangible progress on the problems posed by animal experimentation and factory farming.
To solve the problems of factory farming and animal experimentation, what we need is not new philosophical knowledge but a systematic exploration of how to put what we know into practice. This book argues for combining pragmatism and vision, reason and emotions, morality and politics to foster significantly better human-animal relations.
