Abstract
Anthropomorphism has long been considered a cardinal error when describing animals. Ethicists have feared the consequences of misrepresenting animals in their reasoning. Recent research within human-animal studies, however, has sophisticated the notion of anthropomorphism. It is suggested that avoiding anthropomorphism merely creates other morphisms, such as mechanomorphism. Instead of avoiding anthropomorphism, it is argued that it is a communicative strategy that should be used critically. Instances of anthropomorphism in animal ethics are analyzed in this paper. Some analogies made between people and non-human animals in present theories of animal ethics are clear instances of psychological anthropomorphism. Other analogies are implicit cases of cultural anthropomorphism. It is argued that animal ethics needs to take the wider discourse of critical anthropomorphism into account in order to sophisticate the understanding and use of anthropomorphic projections. Anthropomorphism is an efficient tool of communication, and it may be made an adequate one as well.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrews, K. (2009). Politics and metaphysics? On attributing psychological properties to animals. Biology and Philosophy, 24, 51–63.
Asquith, P. J. (2010). Of bonds and boundaries. American Journal of Primatology, 71, 1–7.
Burghardt, G. M. (1991). Cognitive ethology and critical anthropomorphism: A snake with two heads and hognose snakes that play dead. In C. A. Ristau (Ed.), Cognitive ethology: the minds of other animals: essays in honor of Donald R. Griffin. Hillsdale: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Crist, E. (1999). Images of animals. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Daston, L., & Mitman, G. (Eds.). (2005). Thinking with animals. New York: Columbia University Press.
De Waal, F. (2000). Anthropomorphism and anthropodenial. Philosophical Topics, 27, 255–280.
Elliot, N. L. (2001). Signs of anthropomorphism. Social Semiotics, 11, 289–305.
Everndon, N. (1992). The social creation of nature. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Fisher, J. (1991). Disambiguating anthropomorphism: An interdisciplinary study. In P. P. G. Bateson & P. H. Klopfer (Eds.), Perspectives in ethology (Vol. 9). New York: Plenum Publishing Cooperation.
Ganetz, H. (2004). Familiar beasts. Nordicom Review, 1–2, 197–213.
Haraway, D. (1989). Primate visions. London: Routledge.
Hume, D. (1957). The natural history of religion. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Karlsson, F. (2009). Weighing animal lives. In Uppsala, Sweden: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Uppsala Studies in Social Ethics 38.
Kennedy, J. S. (1992). The new anthropomorphism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mameli, M., & Bortolotti, L. (2006). Animal rights, animal minds, and human mind-reading. Journal of Medical Ethics, 32, 84–89.
McGrew, W. C. (1992). Chimpanzee material culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Midgley, M. (2002). Beast and man. London and New York: Routledge.
Mill, J. S. (1872). Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s philosophy, 4th ed. London: Longmans.
Mitchell, S. D. (2005). Anthropomorphism and cross-species modeling. In L. Daston & G. Mitman (Eds.), Thinking with animals. New York: Columbia University Press.
Morton, D. B., Burghardt, G. M., & Smith, J. A. (1990) Section III. Critical anthropocentrism, animal suffering, and the ecological context. The Hastings Center Report 20:3(S), 13–19.
Napolitano, F., De Rosa, G., Braghieri, A., Grasso, F., Bordi, A., & Wemelsfelder, F. (2008). The qualitative assessment of responsiveness to environmental challenge in horses and ponies. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 109, 342–354.
Nussbaum, M. C. (2006). Frontiers of justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Regan, T. (1985). The case for animal rights. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
Rollin, B. E. (1997). Anecdote, anthropomorphism, and animal behavior. In N. S. Thompson, H. L. Miles, & R. W. Mitchell (Eds.), Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Ruether, R. R. (1983). Sexism and God-talk. London: SCM Press.
Schönfeld, M. (2006). Animal consciousness. Perspectives on Science, 14, 354–381.
Singer, P. (1975). Animal liberation. New York: New York Review Book.
Singer, P. (1979). Practical ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sober, E. (2005). Comparative psychology meets evolutionary biology. In L. Daston & G. Mitman (Eds.), Thinking with animals. New York: Columbia University Press.
Taylor, P. W. (1996). Respect for nature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Waytz, A., Cacioppo, J., & Epley, N. (2010). Who sees human? The stability and importance of individual differences in anthropomorphism. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 219–232.
Wemelsfelder, F., Hunter, T. E. A., Mendl, M. T., & Lawrence, A. B. (2000). The spontaneous qualitative assessment of behavioural expression in pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 67, 193–215.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Karlsson, F. Critical Anthropomorphism and Animal Ethics. J Agric Environ Ethics 25, 707–720 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-011-9349-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-011-9349-8