“The classical argument for why a supposedly decent and moral creature like Homo sapiens can mistreat and even extirpate other species rests upon an extreme position in a continuum. The Cartesian tradition, formulated explicitly in the seventeenth century, but developed in "folk" and other versions throughout human history no doubt, holds that other animals are little more than unfeeling machines, with only humans enjoying "consciousness," however defined.” HumansLittlesEnjoyAnimalConsciousnessMoralDoubtCenturyPositionCreaturesArgumentTraditionMachinesSpeciesFolksExtremesVersionsDefinedDecentNo DoubtHuman HistoryHomo SapiensContinuumUnfeelingMistreat Author:Stephen Jay Gould
“Plato had defined Man as an animal, biped and featherless, and was applauded. Diogenes plucked a fowl and brought it into the lecture-room with the words, "Behold Plato's man!"” MenAnimalRoomsDefinedPlatoLecturesFowlPlato S Author:Diogenes
“A political animal can be defined as a body that will go on circulating a petition even with its heart cut out.” HeartBodyPoliticalAnimalCuttingGoes OnDefinedPetitionsPolitical Animals Author:Wallace Stegner
“Impartial observers from other planets would consider ours an utterly bizarre enclave if it were populated by birds, defined as flying animals, that nevertheless rarely or never actually flew. They would also be perplexed if they encountered in our seas, lakes, rivers, and ponds, creatures defined as swimmers that never did any swimming. But they would be even more surprised to encounter a species defined as a thinking animal if, in fact, the creature very rarely indulged in actual thinking.” IfsThinkingFactsWould BeAnimalSeaPlanetsCreaturesBirdRiversSpeciesFlyingDefinedEncountersLakesSwimmingNeverthelessBizarreObserversFlewPondsSwimmerPerplexed Book:Dumbth: The Lost Art of Thinking : with 101 Ways to Reason Better & Improve Your Mind Source: Dumbth: The Lost Art of Thinking : with 101 Ways to Reason Better & Improve Your Mind
“In the 60s people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal. In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined.” PeopleWorldHumansAnimalNormalKingdomsDefinedAcidProzacAnimal Kingdom Author:Thomas Szasz