RAIMOND GAITA

Raimond Gaita begins his engaging text with touching and hilarious memories of the remarkable animals he has owned over the years, but goes on from there to consider a selection of ethical questions pertaining to animals. What makes the bond between humans and animals? How can non-vegetarian animal lovers reconcile their priorities? Do animals have feelings that we should respect? (And what about insects?) Gaita, a professor of philosophy at the University of London, writes with an admirable lack of sentimentality about how the love we feel for our pets can be the source of a wise morality that harbors respect for all living things.