The Animal and the Human in Ancient and Modern Thought

This is the first book-length study of the 'man alone of animals' topos in classical literature, not restricting its analysis to Greco-Roman claims of man's intellectual uniqueness, but including classical assertions of man's physiological and emotional uniqueness. It supplements this analysis of ancient manifestations with an examination of how the commonplace survives and has been restated, transformed, and extended in contemporary ethological literature and in the literature of the animal rights and animal welfare movements. Author Stephen T. Newmyer demonstrates that the anthropocentrism detected in Greek applications of the 'man alone of animals' topos is not only alive and well in many facets of the current debate on human-animal relations, but that combating its negative effects is a stated aim of some modern philosophers and activists.

Stephen T. Newmyer is Professor of Classics at Duquesne University, USA. He is author of several books and articles, most recently Animals, Rights, and Reason in Plutarch and Modern Ethics (Routledge, 2006) and Animals in Greek and Roman Thought: A Sourcebook (Routledge, 2011).

1. Introduction: "Man Alone of Animals": An Ancient Commonplace and Its Survivals 2. "Man Alone of Animals": Three Classic Texts 3. The Philosophical Underpinnings of the Concept: Why Such a Concept in Classical Thought? 4. What Makes Man Human? The Reign of Logos 5. The Importance of Being Rational: Logos and Moral Value 6. Body Image: Physiology and the Rise of Civilization 7. Animal Affect: Does Man Alone of Animals Experience Emotions?