Species Matters

Species Matters PDF Author: Marianne DeKoven
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231152825
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
The question of the animal has preoccupied an increasing number of humanities, science, and social science scholars in recent years, and important work continues to expand the burgeoning field of animal studies. However, a key question still needs to be explored: Why has the academy struggled to link advocacy for animals to advocacy for various human groups? Within cultural studies, in which advocacy can take the form of a theoretical intervention, scholars have resisted arguments that add "species" to race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and other human-identity categories as a site for critical analysis. Species Matters: Humane Advocacy and Cultural Theory considers whether and why cultural studies—specifically cultural theory—should pay more attention to animal advocacy and whether or why animal studies should pay more attention to questions raised by cultural theory. The contributors to this volume focus on the "humane" treatment of animals and various human groups and the implications, both theoretical and practical, of blurring the distinction between "the human" and "the animal." This anthology addresses important questions raised by the history of representing humans as the only animal capable of acting humanely, providing a framework for reconsidering the nature of humane discourse, whether in theory, literary and cultural texts, or current advocacy movements outside of the academy.

Species Matters

Species Matters PDF Author: Marianne DeKoven
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231152825
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
The question of the animal has preoccupied an increasing number of humanities, science, and social science scholars in recent years, and important work continues to expand the burgeoning field of animal studies. However, a key question still needs to be explored: Why has the academy struggled to link advocacy for animals to advocacy for various human groups? Within cultural studies, in which advocacy can take the form of a theoretical intervention, scholars have resisted arguments that add "species" to race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and other human-identity categories as a site for critical analysis. Species Matters: Humane Advocacy and Cultural Theory considers whether and why cultural studies—specifically cultural theory—should pay more attention to animal advocacy and whether or why animal studies should pay more attention to questions raised by cultural theory. The contributors to this volume focus on the "humane" treatment of animals and various human groups and the implications, both theoretical and practical, of blurring the distinction between "the human" and "the animal." This anthology addresses important questions raised by the history of representing humans as the only animal capable of acting humanely, providing a framework for reconsidering the nature of humane discourse, whether in theory, literary and cultural texts, or current advocacy movements outside of the academy.

Science and the Endangered Species Act

Science and the Endangered Species Act PDF Author: Committee on Scientific Issues in the Endangered Species Act
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309176190
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a far-reaching law that has sparked intense controversies over the use of public lands, the rights of property owners, and economic versus environmental benefits. In this volume a distinguished committee focuses on the science underlying the ESA and offers recommendations for making the act more effective. The committee provides an overview of what scientists know about extinction--and what this understanding means to implementation of the ESA. Habitat--its destruction, conservation, and fundamental importance to the ESA--is explored in detail. The book analyzes Concepts of species--how the term "species" arose and how it has been interpreted for purposes of the ESA. Conflicts between species when individual species are identified for protection, including several case studies. Assessment of extinction risk and decisions under the ESA--how these decisions can be made more effectively. The book concludes with a look beyond the Endangered Species Act and suggests additional means of biological conservation and ways to reduce conflicts. It will be useful to policymakers, regulators, scientists, natural-resource managers, industry and environmental organizations, and those interested in biological conservation.

Why Ecology Matters

Why Ecology Matters PDF Author: Charles J. Krebs
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022631829X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Global temperatures and seawater levels rise; the world’s smallest porpoise species looms at the edge of extinction; and a tiny emerald beetle from Japan flourishes in North America—but why does it matter? Who cares? With this concise, accessible, and up-to-date book, Charles J. Krebs answers critics and enlightens students and environmental advocates alike, revealing not why phenomena like these deserve our attention, but why they demand it. Highlighting key principles in ecology—from species extinction to the sun’s role in powering ecosystems—each chapter introduces a general question, illustrates that question with real-world examples, and links it to pressing ecological issues in which humans play a central role, such as the spread of invasive species, climate change, overfishing, and biodiversity conservation. While other introductions to ecology are rooted in complex theory, math, or practice and relegate discussions of human environmental impacts and their societal implications to sidebars and appendices, Why Ecology Matters interweaves these important discussions throughout. It is a book rooted in our contemporary world, delving into ecological issues that are perennial, timeless, but could not be more timely.

Species Problems and Beyond

Species Problems and Beyond PDF Author: John S. Wilkins
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000549798
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
Species Problems and Beyond offers a collection of up-to-date essays discussing from an interdisciplinary perspective the many ramifications of the ‘Species Problem.’ The authors represent experts in the philosophy of biology, in species-level evolutionary investigations, and in biodiversity studies and conservation. Some of the topics addressed concern the context sensitivity of the term ‘species’; species as individuals, processes, natural kinds, or as ‘operative concepts’; species delimitation in the age of Big (genomic) Data; and taxonomic inflation and its consequences for conservation strategies. The carefully edited volume will be an invaluable resource for philosophers of biology and evolutionary biologists alike. – Olivier Rieppel, Rowe Family Curator of Evolutionary Biology, Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum, USA Species, or ‘the Species Problem’, is a topic in science, in the philosophy of science, and in general philosophy. In fact, it encompasses many aspects of the same problem, and these are dealt with in this volume. Species are often thought of as fundamental units of biological matter to be used in ecology, conservation, classification, and biodiversity. The chapters in this book present opposing views on the current philosophical and conceptual issues of the Species Problem in biology. Divided into four sections, Concepts and Theories, Practice and Methods, Ranks and Trees and Names, and Metaphysics and Epistemologies, the book is authored by biologists, philosophers, and historians, many leaders in their fields. Topics include ontology of species, definitions of both species category and units, species rank, speciation issues, nomenclature, ecology, and species conservation. Species Problems and Beyond aims to clarify the contemporary issues of the Species Problem. It is ideal for use in upper-level seminars and courses in Evolutionary Biology, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Biology, Systematics and Taxonomy, and Phylogenetics/Cladistics, and for any scholar in these fields.

The New Big 5

The New Big 5 PDF Author: Graeme Green
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1647228719
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
The world’s wildlife is in crisis, and the next ten years are critical. The New Big 5 brings together more than 145 of the world’s greatest wildlife photographers, conservationists, and advocates in a mission to not only celebrate the natural beauty of the animal world, but to raise awareness of the crucial issues facing these magnificent creatures. Until recently, the Big Five referred to the five big-game animals that were most difficult for colonial hunters to shoot and kill. Wildlife photographer Graeme Green’s The New Big 5 Project set about to reclaim that gruesome, antiquated term by asking people around the world to vote on the five endangered animals they would most want to shoot—with a camera. More than fifty thousand people voted, and the New Big 5 list of Wildlife Photography was born. What are the New Big 5? Elephants Gorillas Tigers Lions Polar Bears With 226 stunning photos and informative essays from the world’s greatest wildlife advocates, this one-of-a-kind book inspires and raises awareness about the New Big 5, and our wildlife world. FEATURES MANY OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES: An extensive chapter is devoted to endangered species, such as rhinos, cheetahs, lemurs, frogs, vultures, sharks, whales, and turtles. INCREDIBLE CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY: Majestic portraits, animals in their habitat, and examples of natural behavior from more than 145 renowned wildlife photographers, including Ami Vitale, Marsel van Oosten, Paul Nicklen, Steve McCurry, Karine Aigner, Brian Skerry, Lucas Bustamante, Beverly Joubert, Clement Kiragu, Thomas Mangelsen, Paul Hilton, Suzi Eszterhas, Sascha Fonseca, Cristina Mittermeier, Frans Lanting, Marina Cano, Gael R. Vande Weghe, Daisy Gilardini, Steve Winter, Qiang Zhang, Art Wolfe, Dhritiman Mukherjee, Will Burrard-Lucas, David Lloyd, Vicki Jauron, Sergey Gorshkov, and Thomas Vijayan. ENGAGING ESSAYS from leading conservationists, including Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Paula Kahumbu (Wildlife Direct), Dr. Tara Stoinski (CEO, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund), Krista Wright (Executive Director, Polar Bears International), Dr. Anish Andheria (CEO, Wildlife Conservation Trust), Dr. Moreangels Mbizah (Executive Director, Wildlife Conservation Action), Dominique Gonçalves (Manager, Elephant Ecology Project at Gorongosa National Park), and Wes Sechrest (CEO, Re:wild). “I hope the photos in this The New Big 5 book will lead people into the wonderful worlds of these iconic species - elephants, polar bears, gorillas, tigers and lions - and encourage them to explore the lives of so many other fascinating creatures, many of which are also endangered. Then, perhaps, other people will become involved in helping to create a world where wildlife can flourish for future generations to enjoy. I believe we have a window of time during which we can start to heal some of the harm we have inflicted on the natural world and slow down the heating of the planet. But only if we get together and take action now.” - Dr. Jane Goodall

Fellow Creatures

Fellow Creatures PDF Author: Christine M. Korsgaard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191068373
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
Christine M. Korsgaard presents a compelling new view of humans' moral relationships to the other animals. She defends the claim that we are obligated to treat all sentient beings as what Kant called "ends-in-themselves". Drawing on a theory of the good derived from Aristotle, she offers an explanation of why animals are the sorts of beings for whom things can be good or bad. She then turns to Kant's argument for the value of humanity to show that rationality commits us to claiming the standing of ends-in-ourselves, in two senses. Kant argued that as autonomous beings, we claim to be ends-in-ourselves when we claim the standing to make laws for ourselves and each other. Korsgaard argues that as beings who have a good, we also claim to be ends-in-ourselves when we take the things that are good for us to be good absolutely and so worthy of pursuit. The first claim commits us to joining with other autonomous beings in relations of moral reciprocity. The second claim commits us to treating the good of every sentient creature as something of absolute importance. Korsgaard argues that human beings are not more important than the other animals, that our moral nature does not make us superior to the other animals, and that our unique capacities do not make us better off than the other animals. She criticizes the "marginal cases" argument and advances a new view of moral standing as attaching to the atemporal subjects of lives. She criticizes Kant's own view that our duties to animals are indirect, and offers a non-utilitarian account of the relation between pleasure and the good. She also addresses a number of directly practical questions: whether we have the right to eat animals, experiment on them, make them work for us and fight in our wars, and keep them as pets; and how to understand the wrong that we do when we cause a species to go extinct.

Culture and Conservation

Culture and Conservation PDF Author: Eleanor Shoreman-Ouimet
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317937295
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
Today, there is growing interest in conservation and anthropologists have an important role to play in helping conservation succeed for the sake of humanity and for the sake of other species. Equally important, however, is the fact that we, as the species that causes extinctions, have a moral responsibility to those whose evolutionary unfolding and very future we threaten. This volume is an examination of the relationship between conservation and the social sciences, particularly anthropology. It calls for increased collaboration between anthropologists, conservationists and environmental scientists, and advocates for a shift towards an environmentally focused perspective that embraces not only cultural values and human rights, but also the intrinsic value and rights to life of nonhuman species. This book demonstrates that cultural and biological diversity are intimately interlinked, and equally threatened by the industrialism that endangers the planet's life-giving processes. The consideration of ecological data, as well as an expansion of ethics that embraces more than one species, is essential to a well-rounded understanding of the connections between human behavior and environmental wellbeing. This book gives students and researchers in anthropology, conservation, environmental ethics and across the social sciences an invaluable insight into how innovative and intensive new interdisciplinary approaches, questions, ethics and subject pools can close the gap between culture and conservation.

Living and Value

Living and Value PDF Author: Frederick Ferre
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791450598
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
Based on an ecologically inspired wordview, defends ethics against skepticism and irrealism.

Resilience

Resilience PDF Author: Kevin Grove
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317340000
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 381

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Book Description
Is resilience simply a fad, or is it a new way of thinking about human–environment relations, and the governance of these relations, that has real staying power? Is resilience a dangerous, depoliticizing concept that neuters incipient political activity, or the key to more empowering, emancipatory, and participatory forms of environmental management? Resilience offers an advanced introduction to these debates. It provides students with a detailed review of how the concept emerged from a small corner of ecology to critically challenge conventional environmental management practices, and radicalize how we can think about and manage social and ecological change. But Resilience also situates this new style of thought and management within a particular historical and geographical context. It traces the roots of resilience to the cybernetically-influenced behavioral science of Herbert Simon, the neoliberal political economic theory of new institutional economics, the pragmatist philosophy of John Dewey, and the modernist design aesthetic of the Bauhaus school. These diverse roots are what distinguish resilience approaches from other ways of studying human-environment relations. Resilience thinking recalibrates the study of social and environmental change around a will to design, a drive or desire to synthesize diverse forms of knowledge and develop collaborative, cross-boundary solutions to complex problems. In contrast to the modes of analysis and critique found in geography and cognate disciplines, resilience approaches strive to pragmatically transform human–environment relations in ways that will produce more sustainable futures for complex social and ecological systems. In providing a road map to debates over resilience that brings together research from geography, anthropology, sociology, international relations, and philosophy, this book gives readers the conceptual and theoretical tools necessary to engage with political and ethical questions about how we can and should live together in an increasingly interconnected and unpredictable world.

Parasitology

Parasitology PDF Author: Eric S. Loker
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000544621
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 669

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Book Description
Produced amidst the still rippling effects of a pandemic and as the world experiences the increasing burden of global warming and a rapidly changing biosphere, the second edition of Parasitology: A Conceptual Approach offers a timely overview of the eukaryotic parasites affecting human health and the health of domestic and wild animals and plants. The book offers a broadly encompassing, integrative view of the phenomenon of parasitism and of the remarkable diversity of the world’s parasites. This second edition has been thoroughly updated on all aspects of parasitism, including expanded sections on parasite biodiversity, parasite genomes, the interface between parasitology and disease ecology, and applications of new techniques like CRISPR and gene drives for parasite control. Key selling features: Emphasis on a distinctive integrative and conceptual approach rather than the taxon-by-taxon approach used in most parasitology books A concise, handy Rogues Gallery section that summarizes the basic biology for the most important eukaryotic parasites of humans and domestic animals, one a reader is repeatedly directed to throughout the chapters Outstanding full-color illustrations and photographs to reinforce key points The use of text boxes to set apart important topics or ideas that deserve special emphasis Provision of end-of-chapter summaries, questions to test understanding and key references for those wishing to seek further information Reference to particular URLs to highlight recent developments that often pose new and distinctive problems awaiting solution Parasitology: A Conceptual Approach is designed for an upper-level undergraduate audience, but its readability and careful explanation of underlying scientific concepts and terminology makes it appropriate for anyone seeking a broader understanding of the impact of infectious organisms on our well-being and the changes underway in the modern world.