Kurzbeschreibung

Animal behaviour expert, Dr Jonathan Balcombe, combines rigorous evidence, elegant argument and amusing anecdotes to show that that animals, like humans, enjoy themselves. It debunks the popular perception that life for most is a continuous struggle for survival and suggests that creatures feel good thanks to play, sex, food, comfort and more.

Beschreibung

Pleasurable Kingdom marshalls the latest evidence that animals, like humans, enjoy themselves. It debunks the popular perception that life for most is a continuous, grim struggle for survival. Instead it suggests that creatures from birds to bats to baboons may feel good thanks to play, sex, touch, food, anticipation, comfort, aesthetics and more.
Combining rigorous evidence, elegant argument and amusing anecdote, leading animal behaviour researcher Dr Jonathan Balcombe proposes that evolution favours sensory rewards because they drive living things to stay alive and reproduce.
Animal pain and stress, once controversial, are now acknowledged by legislation in many countries. Likewise the possibility of positive feelings in creatures other than humans has important ramifications for science and society and is thus ripe for informed debate, Balcombe concludes.

Inhaltsangabe

PART I: WHY ANIMAL PLEASURE
Survival of the Happiest: The Adaptive Basis for Pleasure
Forbidden Pleasures: Our Reluctance to Acknowledge Animal Pleasure
Feeling Smart: The Intelligence of Pleasure
PART II: WHAT ANIMAL PLEASURE
Play: Fun for Its Own Sake
Food: The Pleasures of Sustenance
Sex: Procreation and Recreation
Touch: Making Contact with Pleasure
Love: The Ripening Warmth of Intimacy
Other Pleasures: Esthetics, Humor and Beyond
Fish and Thrips: At the Margins of Pleasure
PART III: FROM ANIMAL PLEASURE
Feeling Good, Doing Good: Implications of a Pleasurable Kingdom
NOTES, REFERENCES, FURTHER READING

Klappentext

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 possibility of positive feelings in creatures other than humans has important ethical ramifications for both science and society.

For more information please visit the author's website at www. pleasurablekingdom. com