When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals: Amazon.ca: J. Moussaieff Masson, Susan McCarthy, David Ackroyd: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

When Masson searched modern scientific literature on the subject of emotions in nonhuman animals, he found very little. So the psychoanalyst turned his attention and analysis to these other species. With science writer McCarthy, he shows that animals of all kinds lead complex emotional lives. This subject is avoided by many behavioral scientists for fear that they will be accused of anthropomorphism; the authors look carefully at that issue. They argue that scientists use a double standard, depending on whether the behavior is human or nonhuman ("a cheetah is not frightened by a lion; it shows flight behavior"). The authors are sharply critical of animal research in psychology, which they liken to torture. Most human emotions can be observed in other animals?grief, anger, dominance, jealousy, compassion, altruism, gratitude; the book offers examples. "If we wish to learn about other animals, they must be taken on their own terms, which includes their feelings," stress the authors, who make a compelling case for animals' having feelings to begin with. First serial to Cosmopolitan and New Age Journal; BOMC, QPB, Nature Book Study and National Wildlife Federation selections; audio rights to Recorded Books and Books on Tape.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

YA?Animals do in fact lead emotional lives, according to Masson. He has managed to find hundreds of anecdotes from the published works and field studies of such noted behaviorists as Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Cynthia Moss that support his theory. It seems that, despite the fact that anthropomorphism is among the worst of scientific taboos, these respected scientists cannot help but notice the similarities between human and animal behavior. Chapters are organized by topic, such as fear, love, grief, and even compassion and beauty. An index provides access by species and by personal name of both people and animals. An excellent resource in psychology, this title will also be a useful addition for animal research. Its clear and conversational style makes it interesting for general readers as well. A well-documented, compelling, and thought-provoking defense of animal emotions.?Robin Deffendall, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

going back to basics(1)

healing the planet(1)

healing your animal(1)

loving animals and nature(1)

spiritual awareness(1)

Customer Reviews

48 Reviews

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(15)

Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Animals have emotions and souls, but this book was terrible!, May 18 2002

By

"songbear" (Ashburn, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals (Paperback)

I love animals. Anyone who has ever lived with a dog, cat, horse, or any other species know animals have emotions. Some humans just don't have the time or the heart to recognize them and respond to them. This book deserved to be so much better than it actually was. Great idea executed poorly. "When Elephants Weep" ended up being too much of an intellectual discussion about what is wrong with the human race and is written from a sophomoric slant enough to bore all but the most devout pop psychology buff to complete and utter insanity. In the first two chapters, authors Susan McCarthy and Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson just rail on unfeeling humans (there is actually a chapter entitled "Unfeeling Brutes") and all we get for over 40 pages is a diatribe against the scientific community. The author even goes so far to discuss the deficiencies in Freudian psychology in the area of human child sexual abuse, but never fully explains why this is relevant to the topic of the book.

Opinions, opinions, and more opinions. I kept waiting for even moderately detailed, heartwarming accounts of animal emotions and all I got were short burst of dry, clinical accounts of various animals followed by paragraphs and paragraphs of human psychology. The main author Masson has a PhD in Sanskrit. Maybe he should stick to something he knows about, because he doesn't demonstrate that he knows anything about emotion in this book - animal or otherwise. This book is overwrought, poorly written, not well thought out, disorganized, doesn't make a good argument for animal emotions (which deserves one), and doesn't do anything to seriously convince the scientific community why they should study this subject more closely. Books like this actually hurt the cause more than they promote it. I just can't believe he got this published. I don't care what the critics say, or the fact that this was a New York Times best seller. Don't waste your money on this book. The authors come off like raving lunatics, making a respectable topic for research and further study look like it belongs on the magazine rack with the tabloids.

I have learned more about being human from my dog than I have ever learned from another human being. Animals have emotions - and I believe they have souls. Most humans know that by instinct and we'll have to rely on instinct until better written books and thorough research on this subject are published.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Documentation of Animal Feelings, Mar 5 2012

By

Ila France Porcher "author of My Sunset Rende... - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals (Paperback)

This book presents the argument that other animals are sentient, and that in a moral society we wrong them when we fail to take their suffering into account in the way we treat them. Illustrated by anecdotes showing the emotional reactions and feelings of animals of many species and in many situations, the authors successfully make the case that they must experience emotions and declare that it must be acknowledged. Elephants provide an excellent example since they are highly intelligent, and as emotionally bound to their family members as humans are.

I found the book a fascinating and revealing read, and for people who love their pets and wonder whether other species could be emotionally responsive to humans and have feelings, this book is a good one. While arguments are also presented, criticizing the way mainstream society considers animals and in failing to take their suffering into account, it is a wonderful read for anyone interested in animal subjective states, if only for the surprising anecdotes that are given.

And considering the reality of the way animals are being treated today, for big business in so many forms, from agribusiness to elephant torture training in circuses, these are arguments that need to be stated. For a comprehensive view of this more social side of the question, this book tells it like it is!

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 stars When Elephants Weep, We All Should..., Mar 29 2009

By

Skinartia (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals (Paperback)

This is a very interesting book both as a lay person and a vegan/animal rights supporter. There were a couple of points in it that I thought were ridiculous (I can't give any specific example off the top of my head), and some of it read too much like a psychological text book instead of being directed at lay people which was a bit distracting. Overall, I highly recommend this book as more people need to realize that animals are indeed feeling creatures with emotions in their own rights and not cold, unfeeling "things" to be used and abused by us.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 48 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 83 reviews 3.4 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars a thoughtful book on a difficult subject
In the scientific community, "anthropomorphism" (assigning human qualities to inanimate ojects or animals) is villified to an astonishing degree. Read more

Published on July 15 2003 by Elizabeth Roberts-Zibbel

4.0 out of 5 stars Emotions for all
In this book, the authors Masson and McCarthy compile thoughtful and deeply educational stories that demonstrate the presence of emotions in non-human animals. Read more

Published on May 6 2003 by Jason Bumpus