Animals in Brazil: Economic, Legal and Ethical Perspectives ed. by Carlos Naconecy (review)

Abstract

According to Calarco, this confrontation will undoubtedly use philosophy to enact change. As part of a larger shift in philosophic and literary studies which emphasizes the similarities between humans and animals, Calarco opts for the adjective “more-thanhuman” to describe animals. The point is to turn human exceptionalism on its head. Just as Plutarch’s “Gryllus,” which Calarco focuses on in the fifth chapter, explains how animals are often far better at embodying so-called human virtues, we ought to recognize the way animals often exceed human capabilities. Calarco cites Barbara Smuts for the term “more-than-human world,” which Smuts herself originally borrowed from a 1996 book by David Abram titled The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World. The use of “more-than-human” becomes a little confusing at times in Calarco’s book, especially because it is occasionally used alongside “nonhuman animals” and “other-than-human beings.” In Chapter 9, for example, which focuses on Nietzsche’s Übermensch—a term already bearing suprahuman implications— Calarco will juggle all three terms while also adding to the list Nietzsche’s notion of the “all-too-human.” Regardless, Calarco’s belief in philosophy’s ability to enact change is refreshing, as is his writing. The bite-sized chapters pack impressive summaries of key philosophers who write on animals and place them inside contemporary ecological conversations and against contemporary concerns. Other chapters focus on Jainism, Kant, Bentham, and Derrida. The book predominantly caters to a popular audience in accordance with Calarco’s belief that philosophy figures prominently in the effort to change human-animal relationships. Thus the book is an excellent introduction and survey of philosophical studies on animals while also providing novel and unexplored connections that other experts can certainly sink their teeth into. Animals in Brazil: Economic, Legal and Ethical Perspectives. Edited by Carlos Naconecy. (Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. 120 + xv pp. Hardback. £54.99. ISBN 978-3-030-23376-1.)