Awe for the Tiger, Love for the Lamb : A Chronicle of Sensibility to Animals

Abstract

Respect for animals has always been a part of human consciousness. Poets, thinkers, philosophers, scientists and statesmen have long celebrated our compassion towards Earth's other beasts.Awe for the Tiger, Love for the Lamb compiles the most significant statements of sensibility to animals in the history of thought. From the myths of the ancient world to the Middle Ages to Darwin and beyond, Preece captures the most telling and fascinating accounts of humankind's relationship to the wild world, placing them in historical context. Jung called it an unconscious identity with animals, while Wordsworth saw it as the primal sympathy which having been must ever be. Linking the diverse chords of human experience that are touched by the animal world, Preece shows that despite a historical thread of cruelty, there still remains in all humanity a constant underlying concern for other beings as an integral part of the moral community. With musings and meditations from Lao Tse to Mohammed, from Plato to Jane Goodall, from classical religion to parliamentary proceedings, Awe for the Tiger, Love for the Lamb is an original, superbly researched history that deepens our understanding of all living beings.