Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature [Paperback]

Mary Midgley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415127408 | ISBN-13: 978-0415127400 | Publication Date: May 26, 1995 | Edition: 2

`Beast and Man is a brilliant and persuasive attempt to set us in our animal context, ... and to indicate a morality for a society without religious absolutes - a morality of which we see the rudiments in our brother species.' - The Observer

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an extremely elegant, penetrating and thought-provoking text...It is beautifully written, stimulating and innovative. To me, there is no question but that Beast rnd Man should be read by all those directly concerned win the nature/nurture debate: zoologist, anthropologists and social scientists. But I would go much further than to say that no thinking person can afford to live without a philosophical outlook which integrates biology and culture. Accordingly, this is a book which deserves to be read across all disciplinary boundaries. I hope it will be.." -- R.D. Martin, University College, London

"Beast and Man is a brilliant and persuasive attempt to set us in our animal context, to show us to ourselves as at home in the world, and to indicate a morality for a society without relgious absolutes--a morality of which we see the rudments in our brother species.." -- The Observer

"This is a very important book. Mrs. Midgley, a professional philosopher with a considerable knowledge of biology, defends a philosophical conception of human nature enriched by biological study. She critizes in detail narrowly scientific claims to provide fundamental explorations of human behavior. She also attacks moral theories which ignore the relation of ethics to nature and which fail to evaluate scientific discovery. her two-way exercise in relating facts to values is among other things a formidable contribution to contemporary debate in moral philosophy. This long, closely reasoned book, written without scientific or philosophical jargon, presents a lively and wide-ranging argument which will interest scientists and philosophers, specialists and laymen. In pursuing the philosophical task of resolving conceptual confusions Mrs. Midgley has provide an urgently needed bridge between science and philosophy.." -- Iris Murdoch

About the Author

Mary Midgley is a moral philosopher who teaches at University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She is the author of Science as Salvation, The Ethical Primate, Wickedness, and Wisdom, Information and Wonder, all available from Routledge.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (May 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415127408
• ISBN-13: 978-0415127400
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,733,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new favorite I will read again and again., June 14, 2003

By 

Kevin Currie-Knight "Education Grad Student" (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature (Paperback)

Mary Midgley, one of Britian's most cherished moral philosophers, wrote "Beast and Man" at age 50. At a time where behaviorism and existentialism told the world that there was no such thing as instinct or human nature, Midgley took pen to paper after raising three kids and in observing them, realized how wrong that notion was. Kids have instincts, natures. What's more, these natures are not so far off from what we know of animals natures.

Now before I give the impression that Midgley's book is another sociobiology book in disguise, it is the farthest thing from it. The first thing Midgley does is to make it clear that phrases like "Man is JUST (substitute "merely", "only" or "simply") an animmal are not only unfair to animals, they are unfair to humans. Sociobiology even sadomasochistically revels in depressions like this. (after all, aren't we 'only' the 'third chimpanzee'?) Usually, the mistake made is to thihk that animals are 'humans that just haven't gotten there yet' or that humans are 'dressed up brutes that play at ratiionality'. Midgley spends many pages on tackling both of these assumptions, as tacit as they sometimes are.

From there, she tackles things like what it means to say 'instinct', why 'reductionism' doesn't explain much of anything, and intertwining them all with examples of why the 'lower animals' and humans have so much in common yet are so incredibly different.

In short, this book is not to be missed. It is informative, provocative, challenging and all the while written in a crisp and sensitive prose. Never has it felt so good to be called an animal.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whats the difference between man and animal?, August 11, 2002

By 

"repeatonceagain" (Dexter, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beast and Man (Paperback)

After reading this book, you may decide that the similarities between man and beast are more important than the differences. Mary Midgley discusses many types of animals and how they compare to humans. Are you sure you are attracted to a certain behaviour because of something only inside yourself, or is it because you are moving as part of a flock similar to how birds do? When you learn something, is it because of your own experience or are you mimicking a leader like a rat does? How much better is the human race, in terms of love and compassion, compared to animals such as elephants? The exploration of these and many other questions might stun you.