Seize A Plea For The Animals: The Moral, Philosophical, And Evolutionary Imperative To Treat All Beings With Compassion Produced By Matthieu Ricard Format Kindle
her bog viser hvor vigtigt det er, at vi som mennesker forstår hvad vores valg fører med sig, I Til forsvar for dyrene's redegører og argumenterer Matthieu Ricard for vores blik på andre levende følelsesvæsner, hvordan vi behandler dem, og ikke mindst hvad det har af konsekvenser.
Det er en umådeligt vigtig bog som jeg inderligt ville ønske alle ville læse,
Bogen er inddelt i tolv kapitler som alle ser problemet fra en særskilt vinkel, Særligt kapitlet "Ude af øje, ude af sind" har indprentet sig dybt i mig, Kapitlet fortæller om, hvilke lidelser dyr gennemgår på slagterierne eller ved fangsten af dem, Det er modbydeligt, og det er noget jeg synes man bør vide, når man vælger sit hakkekød nede i supermarkedet, Kapitel fem "De dårlige undskyldninger" har bestemt også været lærerig læsning for mig indholdet giver lidt sig selv af overskriften, Og selvfølgelig gav sidste kapitel, konklusionen, mig det endegyldige slag til den overordenlige mavepuster bogen har givet mig,
"Størstedelen af os ville væmmes ved hver dag at skulle dræbe et dyr med egne hænder, men vi er klar til at acceptere dyrs død, den dårlige behandling de udsættes for og den økologiske katastrofe, som opdræt og fiskeri medfører, fordi "det gør alle".
Renan Larue bemærker: "Enigheden om volden flytter det personlige ansvar væk fra os selv, og så undgår vi at tænke for meget over det.
Den blotte tilstedeværelse af en vegetar bryder almindeligvis den stiltiende, ubevidste aftalte, . . Indtil da har det ikke været hverken godt eller dårligt at spise kød, kødspiseri befandt sig uden for moralsfæren, "" I picked this up in a bargain bin and half expected it to be a boring mashup of Buddhist platitudes on compassion, Only after watching Dominion think Earthlings, but with drones did I feel compelled to read it, and I was pleasantly surprised,
It's well argued and, notwithstanding the odd inconsistency, well researched but stats on animal cruelty are not forthcoming, so perhaps one can't be too hard on Ricard.
I doubt this will change many minds, because when it comes to eating animals many people myself included are frustratingly one could easily say abhorrently lumpen.
But I'm glad I read itit's given me some good facts and arguments to pull out the next time I encounter someone who is a bit too enthusiastic about eating meat, hunting, or going to the aquarium.
.stars
Not sure if something was lost in translation or if the author's writing style was just not for me but I found this to be a difficult book to read, and not just because of the content.
I did find a lot of the information to eyeopening and I do plan to do my own independent research into how animals are treated in my own country and what alternative options arw currently available ie humane farming practices.
I found the overall tone of the book to be somewhat bias, as you would expect, and I feel there were some clear gaps and silences used to help push the author's personal agenda.
There was a weird religious tone throughout too which I didn't really get,
Overall, I found this book to be a decent springboard for drawing my attention to things I would like to look into more but I don't feel the book itself was that great.
A great philosophical analysis of the moral and ethics of the relationship between humans and animals, The book does a great job of showing the moral incongruence of the way we threat animals in modern society, The book tries to provide philosophical answers to complicated questions:
Why is a dog threated better than a pig Do we have the right to inflict suffering and death to animal if that is not necessary for our survival As conscious beings, do we have the moral duty to threat all sentient beings with compassion and respect their own way of living
If animals deserve to have rights, what should these rights be Should they vary depending on the species
I recommend reading this book to expand your understandings and thoughts about our relationship with animals, about moral duty towards other living beings, and to make you think if you should change any habits to be more consistent with your own moral values.
There is a good selection of books on the subject of animal rights and compassion for all sentient beings nowadays to chose from, and this is one of the best five, go get a copy and read it! One of the best books on the topic of vegetarianism/veganism.
This theme is often a source of anxiety for many, yet Ricard stays humble, methodical and benevolent,
I often recommend this reading to nonvegans/vegetarians or anyone interested in the question as it adopts a nonjudgemental, objective, scientific and philosophical approach that truly encourages reflection and selfanalysis instead of pointing fingers and inducing guilt.
An overall brilliant text for curious thinkers who wish to progress in their considerations about animal life, ethical living and kindness, Cette exposé sur la traitement des animaux est complète et bien informée, Matthieu Ricard explore les abattoirs, les zoos, la chasse, la recherche scientifique, la fourrure, la médecine chinoise et la corrida, en passant par les points de vue philosophiques et moraux.
Pour des initiés, ou même pour les fauxdébutants dans ce sujet, on apprend beaucoup sur la situation actuelle, Chaque chapitre est renforcé de chiffres et statistiques, ainsi que des citations des philosophes tels Kant, Voltaire et Gandhi, en même temps que des ethnologues et chercheurs comme Jane Goodall.
De plus on trouve beaucoup de références intéressants comme des autres œuvres sur le même thème ou encore des documentaires disponibles sur YouTube pour poursuivre sa lecture.
Ce document est écrit depuis le point de vue Bouddhiste, et donc cherche souvent à convaincre la lectrice d'adopter des comportements plus alignés avec cette pensée.
La lectrice doit se décider ellemême si cette manque de subjectivité est bien ou mal placée surtout après l'exposé sur les conditions déplorables dans des abattoirs et dans l'industrie de la viande, sur laquelle nous fermons quotidiennement les yeux.
Pour s'informer sur les cruautés actuelles, et pour développer sa pensée philosophique en ce qui concerne les droits et les esprits des animaux, je recommande chaleureusement ce livre.
"Kindness is not an obligation, it is the most noble expression of human nature, " Every cow just wants to be happy, Every chicken just wants to be free, Every bear, dog, or mouse experiences sorrow and feels pain as intensely as any of us humans do, In a compelling appeal to reason and human kindness, Matthieu Ricard here takes the arguments from his bestsellers Altruism and Happiness to their logical conclusion: that compassion toward all beings, including our fellow animals, is a moral obligation and the direction toward which any enlightened society must aspire.
He chronicles the appalling sufferings of the animals we eat, wear, and use for adornment or "entertainment," and submits every traditional justification for their exploitation to scientific evidence and moral scrutiny.
What arises is an unambiguous and powerful ethical imperative for treating all of the animals with whom we share this planet with respect and compassion.
This is an amazing book, and everyone should read
it! Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk, a French national now living in Nepal, and he writes with eloquence, knowledge and compassion about the attitude of humanity towards our fellow creatures, those sentient beings with whom we share this planet and to a greater or lesser extent, a large part of our DNA.
He does not shy away from the barbarities inflicted, both in the past and in the present, upon helpless animals by humans, and delves into the mindsets and philosophies that allow us to think this acceptable.
He questions the attitude that places humanity at the centre of life on earth, pointing out that while we certainly have capabilities that animals do not share, the reverse is also true.
And he makes the grim point that although science has demonstrated the sentience, emotions and intelligence of animals irrefutably, and brought it to our awareness as never before, due to intensive farming carried out for the most part behind closed doors to satisfy our demand for large quantities of cheap meat animals are suffering and dying at our hands as never before, in numbers too astronomical to contemplate billions of them are killed by the factory farming industry every single day, and the pressures on slaughterhouses means they are seldom killed humanely.
Many children do not even know where the 'meat' bought packaged at the supermarket and served up to them for dinner actually comes from, Many are appalled to learn that it is actually the flesh of what was once a live animal, Many adults do not want to contemplate the connection either, and deliberately distance themselves from the knowledge that their sausage was once part of a pig who only ever saw daylight once, en route to the slaughterhouse where it was insufficiently stunned and plunged alive into the scalding tank.
So yes, there's a lot of awfulness here, but there's a message of hope too, Towards the end of the book, Ricard compares the animal rights movement to the antislavery movement of the nineteenth century, Abolitionists too were reviled, laughed at, assured that they were opposing the 'natural' order of things, that African slaves did not feel pain, either mental or physical, in the same way as Europeans, that the economy would collapse if slavery were abolished, that they were being unnecessarily sensitive and squeamish.
But there came a point, a tipping point, at which the majority of the population came round to the abolitionist view and those who opposed it could no longer justify their position ethically or morally.
This point, Ricard believes, is within sight as regards our treatment of animals, He quotes Gandhi's famous maxim: 'First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win', So that's something to hold on to, from which everyone who's laid down their peace of mind in this life on the altar of justice and compassion for animals can take heart.
I'm so grateful to have discovered this book, and glad to know that there are people like Mattheiu Ricard in the world,
,ster
Het begon heel sterk maar verviel daarna in een afwisseling van zwakke en goede stukken, Ricard heeft wat mij betreft niets nieuws te zeggen als je je al eerder verdiept hebt in dierethiek, maar bundelt veel informatie van anderen, Het verbaasde me dat dit boek niet heel erg diep ingaat op de relatie tussen Boeddhisme en dierethiek hoewel dit wel een klein beetje wordt behandeld, gezien Ricard's eigen achtergrond.
Waar ik me bij Ricard mateloos over geïrriteerd heb is zijn idee van biologisch progressivisme: Dat de mens op een soort stijgende lijn zit van "slecht naar beter".
Dit idee getuigt ten eerste van een totaal verkeerd begrip van evolutie evolutie heeft géén doel en geen moraal en geen idee van goed of slecht Het is puur een begrip van kans en ten tweede kan het vruchtbare aarde geven aan koloniale en racistische ideeën afgezien van de specicistische implicaties die Ricard juist probeert te ontkrachten in latere hoofdstukken.
Een raar stuk in het boek waarin Ricard zichzelf eigenlijk tegenspreekt en zichzelf in een moeilijke positie zet met betrekking tot de rest van zijn betoog dat juist probeert te focussen op de overeenkomsten met nietmenselijke dieren.
Al met al niet slecht, maar ook niet mindblowing Since I was a little kid, Ive always considered myself to be an animal lover.
I always had pet dogs and cats and would treat them like part of the family, We even had pet chickens and our neighbors kept horses and cows, I would always be so excited to go pet and feed them, I was an animal lover, but I still ate meat, Growing up, I vividly remember the first time I had the realization that the meat my mom was using to cook our dinner was an animal that had been killed.
I remember bawling my eyes out, telling my mom that “the cow didnt deserve to die!” My mom then used the same reasoning that had led to trillions of animals being killed for human consumption.
"The animals are here on Earth for us to eat, That is what theyre meant for!” She said she did the same thing when she was a kid, passing it off as something that was normal for all kids to go through, just a part of growing up.
Sure enough, I stopped crying and ate whatever it was my mom cooked that day, going back to that sweet cognitive dissonance that allowed me to enjoy meat for years without even thinking about the suffering that it caused to innocent and helpless animals.
A Plea for the Animals touches on many reasons why we as society eat meat, including the notion that our consumption is what the animals are meant for.
Matthieu Ricard intelligently breaks down almost every reason why we eat meat in this book, and provides expert logical reasoning and scientific evidence against eating meat and for treating all animals with kindness and respect.
I found this book very enlightening, particularly on the horrors of the meat and dairy industry and its incredible effort to be out of sight and out of mind of society.
Many people simply have no idea what happens prior to meat being served on their plates, Ricard also does a great job of showing the incredible emotional and cognitive abilities of the animals we have deemed "inferior" to us humans, viewing these animals only as means to an end.
I would recommend this book to anyone, It is an eye opening read and it really made me think about what it means to be both an animal lover and a compassionate human being.
You cannot call yourself an animal lover and still eat meat, I'm proud to say that I've been a vegetarian for several months now, and A Plea for the Animals only reassured me that it is one of the best choices I could have made for myself, the animals, and the future of humanity and the planet.
I can't add anything that other reviewers haven't already said, but I will say this: I started with a fairly fresh highlighter, and it was running dry by the end.
Ricard has done his homework: this book draws from, and synthesizes, all eight pages of his bibliography, Ricard makes the research digestible though occasionally I did feel like vomiting, particularly while reading chapter, but that's due to the topic, and my human empathy neurons, and he covers the ethical issues and history so thoroughly that one almost forgets his journey started with "Buddhist ethics.
" I was actually expecting more "preaching" than is in the book, He's writing as a scientist and ethicist, not particularly as a religious figure,
He's effectively destroyed every argument one could make for factory farming, training circus animals, dog racing, trophy hunting, bullfighting, and so on, While he makes it clear about not taking an absolutist view arctic hunting tribes, selfdefense against a lion attack, he's quick to point out that those are so rare, that I concluded everyone reading his book is probably not able to use those as excuses.
Ew sorry for the runon sentence, Essentially: We claim to love animals then we torture them, murder them, and swallow chunks of their carcasses, We are rightly out of excuses,
Huh, I guess I did have something more to say, after all, .