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Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good
Pleasurable Kingdom presents new evidence that animals--like humans--enjoy themselves. From birds to baboons, insects to iguanas, animals feel good thanks to play, sex, touch, food, anticipation, comfort, aesthetics, and more. Combining rigorous evidence, elegant argument and amusing anecdotes, leading animal behavior researcher Jonathan Balcombe shows that the possib...more
Paperback, 360 pages
Published
July 10th 2007
by Macmillan
(first published 2006)
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I heard this gentleman speak at a Cornell Vet School occasion. He seemed so nice, I wanted to read his book. The premise is that the pleasure animals experience in the natural world can be as great as their suffering, and interrupting their ability to pursue pleasure is a form of cruelty. He cites some interesting studies, but the contents of the book weren't overly surprising. I think that he may be preaching to the choir in regards to those most likely to pick up this book. If only the...more
The big question in this book is whether animals (read: non-humans) know pleasure like we (read: humans) do. Balcombe states yes, although it's very hard to put facts to the statement. Because there are so few facts to base your opinion on, it is more the question whether you believe Balcombe or not. I did and I really enjoyed the book. I like to think non-human animals share many things with humans and for me Balcombe confirmed my thoughts.
I was kind of disappointed in this book specially w/ all the typos. I was expecting something different & for them to talk more about compassion than about mating habits.
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Emelda Kavanaugh-Ortiz
rated it
Recommends it for:
everyone, especially jaded ar folks.
Recommended to Emelda by:
Animal Voices radio show/podcast
Shelves:
animal-rights,
own
I loved this book! The anecdotes and studies he gathered to prove his case were great and as well researched as the subject can be- as studying non-human animals' pleasure, as opposed to pain, is not well covered. The stories and explanations were accessible and I love that the last (short) part of the book is just a plug to go vegan. Hells yeah.
A treatise on the ability of animals to feel pleasure/happiness. I thought it would be cute and charming but it was dull and scientific and not at all worth reading.
This book is a more 'scientific' version of Pig Who Sang to the Moon. It was interesting in some parts but too long and dry in others.
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Abandoned on page 40. Author is Douche.
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