This is a book about animals and the moral life. The kinds of questions it raises are profound and consequential: Do animals have moral standing? Do human beings have moral obligations to animals? If
This is a book about animals and the moral life. The kinds of questions it raises are profound and consequential: Do animals have moral standing? Do human beings have moral obligations to animals? If so, how extensive and weighty are those obligations? Robert Wennberg finds it troubling that society at large seems to care more about such concerns than the Christian community does, and he invites people of faith not only to think more deeply about ethical concerns for animals but also to enter into a richer, more sensitive moral life in general.
Over the course of his thought-provoking discussion, Wennberg educates readers about some of the history of ethical concern for animals and the nature of that concern. He also invites serious reflection on the moral issues raised by the existence of animals in our world, while granting readers considerable latitude in reaching their own conclusions. Wennberg arrives at his own conclusions through careful interaction with church history, Christian theology, the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and the best philosophical thought on the moral status of animals. Two compelling case studies — of factory farming and painful animal research are also included.
All in all, God, Humans, and Animals offers a complete, balanced, and convincing argument for the moral recognition of animals. Most readers will be challenged — and some may be changed — by this provocative study.
Stephen Webb
"Careful and comprehensive, this book is a model of moral argument that should be taught in theology and ethics classes from the undergraduate to the seminary level. Robert Wennberg's refreshingly sensible and moderate voice will challenge secular animal-rights activists and skeptical Christians alike. He has raised the whole debate about animals to a new level, advancing every issue he addresses with a balanced treatment that is at once creative and analytical. This is truly a new chapter in the struggle to define the moral standing of animals. "
Lawrence Johnson
"A welcome contribution to the literature concerning the moral significance of animals. Wennberg writes from a Christian perspective, relating the moral status of animals first to God and then to humans on the one hand and to the environment on the other. Animals have moral significance in their own right, not just as they contribute to the environment or to human welfare. All value, of course, is within a theocentric framework. Wennberg is to be commended for bringing to his task both scholarship and fresh insight."
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Robert Wennberg (1935–2010) was Professor of Philosophy at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California. His books include God, Humans, and Animals: An Invitation to Enlarge Our Moral Universe; Terminal Choices: Euthanasia, Suicide, and the Right to Die; and Life in the Balance: Exploring the Abortion Controversy.
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