Title: The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy – and Why They Matter (Revised and Updated)
Author: Marc Bekoff
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Nature, Non-fiction
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Non-fictional text, Novel
Year: 2024
This was one of those books that I had to slowly read chunks of it at a time. Not only is it filled with information that I actually wanted to retain, but it was also kind of emotionally intense. Which is surprising for one of the more academic texts. And, honestly, there were moments throughout that I had to really pause and think about my own actions and try to see if my actions fit in with my morals (I’m human, they didn’t always. But often did). The Emotional Lives of Animals is one of those texts that I thoroughly enjoyed and will probably refer back to in the future because of the sheer amount of quality information. But, I also wouldn’t be in any hurry to reread it soon because it was just incredibly intense and at moments long-winded.
The Emotional Lives of Animals not only discusses the evidence of animals showing emotions, but also the implications of our actions. It flows very naturally – first Bekoff discusses the different pieces of evidence; the studies, the anecdotes, etc. Then he starts to tease out what some of the implications of this could be. Again, he peppers this with the evidence. Allowing the narrative go from almost entirely evidentiary support for his point that all animals have emotions to the argument that he ultimately makes, that we need to deeply consider our treatment and legislation of animals and the ways in which these emotions impact this. Bekoff manages to take a controversial (in scientific circles) topic, hold your hand and lead you to what you will feel is the logical conclusion at the end of his telling.
Although Bekoff spends the majority of The Emotional Lives of Animals emphasising empathy and care, I love that he also acknowledges the consequences of empathy burn out. Rather than just telling us to do better, he also talks about the emotional toll that doing better can take on us. And how sometimes, even when we are fighting for something that is “good”, we have to pause, take a step back and take a deep breath. Bekoff might be discussing the emotional reality of non-human animals, but he also emphasises the importance of taking care of our own emotional lives and well being.
It was actually really cathartic for me to read this book. Where Bekoff has obviously pushed through academia to make his point and fought the common contentions of what and how animals operate, I honestly couldn’t do it. A big reason (amongst a few) that I left scientific academia was the rigidity in not considering that animals have feelings and personalities. That the anecdotal evidence of the locals doesn’t actually count for anything. And just that, in general, a narrow-mindedness that I could not find myself fitting into. There is a disjoint between the academic pursuit and the personal lives of many, and Bekoff is working in a brilliant way to highlight this and overcome it.
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