| | When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals |  | Author: J. Moussaieff Masson
Publisher: Topeka Bindery
Category: Book
List Price: $26.80
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Avg. Customer Rating:  65 reviews
Sales Rank: 3191525
Media: School & Library Binding
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0613656822
Dewey Decimal Number: 591.51
EAN: 9780613656825
ASIN: 0613656822
Publication Date: July 2003
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Product Description
This national bestseller exploring the complex emotional lives of animals was hailed as "a masterpiece" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas and as "marvelous" by Jane Goodall.
The popularity of When Elephants Weep has swept the nation, as author Jeffrey Masson appeared on Dateline NBC, Good Morning America, and was profiled in People for his ground-breaking and fascinating study. Not since Darwin's The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals has a book so thoroughly and effectively explored the full range of emotions that exist throughout the animal kingdom.
From dancing squirrels to bashful gorillas to spiteful killer whales, Masson and coauthor Susan McCarthy bring forth fascinating anecdotes and illuminating insights that offer powerful proof of the existence of animal emotion. Chapters on love, joy, anger, fear, shame, compassion, and loneliness are framed by a provocative re-evaluation of how we treat animals, from hunting and eating them to scientific experimentation. Forming a complete and compelling picture of the inner lives of animals, When Elephants Weep assures that we will never look at animals in the same way again.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 60 more reviews...
 Wasted potential May 6, 2008
I wanted a book with evidence of animal emotions, not some guy trying to make me feel guilty for not being a vegan. I already believe that animals have emotions, but I almost wanted to argue against it just because this book was so horrible. Find a book without so much bias, this author is a little crazy. Comparing hunting to rape? Come on now, that's stupid enough to be HIGHLY offensive. Masson is severely disconnected from reality, someone needs to go through the bibliography, pick out the relevant stuff and write a book with some value.
 interesting premise, poor delivery April 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The scientific community has long denied that non-human animals have any emotions; many pet owners and other sorts of caretakers would beg to differ. This statement forms the basis for Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson's and Susan McCarthy's When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals. From this, Masson and McCarthy set out to prove to the reader that non-human animals do, indeed, feel emotions, particularly in ways humans can understand or relate to, even if the feelings may not be exactly the same (which the authors do admit would be incredibly difficult, probably impossible, to ever find out). Based on their emotions, highlighting joy and suffering, the authors employ what seems to be the basis of Peter Singer's utilitarian argument - animals can be happy or miserable - to argue for Tom Regan's concept of animal rights - that they should have them, and we should respect them.
The premise of the books is appealing and the title is effective and intriguing - many people would like some acknowledgment that their pets are happy or sad when appropriate, and not merely `displaying behavior.' However, for the reader that hopes for a bit more out of this topic, it may be better to look elsewhere.
Masson and McCarthy rely heavily on anecdotes from scientific reports and field observations. They criticize heavily those who say that anecdotes are useless examples of anthropomorphism, or the projecting of human traits onto non-human animals. Masson and McCarthy claim that anthropomorphism is not as big of a problem as the scientific community has made it out to be; rather, it shows a connection with the animals we are studying and is likely to be more accurate that simply stating that an animal is only displaying a certain kind of behavior.
Most of the book is anecdote after anecdote, organized into chapters by groupings of emotions, such as "Grief, Sadness, and the Bones of Elephants," and "Compassion, Rescue, and the Altruism Debate." Most of these stories are asides in longer research articles, or stories from animal owners, trainers, zookeepers, and the like. The authors make a persuasive argument in favor of taking seriously these anecdotes, but that is soon lost once it becomes clear that the entire book is nothing but `interesting stories,' about a paragraph each. Interspersed with these anecdotes is criticism after criticism of the scientific community and of humanity at large, claiming as a whole that scientists, terrified of being accused of anthropomorphism or simply cold-hearted, deny at every turn any possibility that any animal could feel anything, going all the way back to Rene Descartes. Descartes set the standard for the Western attitude toward non-human animals, claiming that they were mere machines, programmed to have responses resembling emotions but that really, they felt no pain or joy. If any of the descriptions of modern-day experiments that the authors provided are even remotely accurate, then Descartes has left too-lasting of an impact.
However, the scientific community is unlikely to be quite the straw man that Masson and McCarthy have set it up to be. While the authors use a few famous scientists' works in a positive way, such as Jane Goodall and Roger Fouts, most of the references to science are about how cold, unfeeling, and in denial the scientific community is, making grand statements about how all of science is determined to blot out animal emotions in an effort to keep humans up at the top. Indeed, the second chapter, devoted to the scientific community, is entitled "Unfeeling Brutes."
Masson and McCarthy make little use of scientific observations or experiments specifically designed to study animal emotion (though the book was written twelve years ago, and perhaps there was not as much out there). They also make little use of solid arguments or stylish prose, opting instead for a stilted read of unsupported but passionate arguments in favor of animal rights based on the idea of animals' emotions. Unfortunately, any sort of clear argument is left until the ten-page conclusion, in which Masson quickly summarizes the past thirty years of mainstream animal activism, quoting Jeremy Bentham, Peter Singer, and Tom Regan, as well as the famous story of Androcles and the lion who refused to attack him.
The ultimate moral of the book, delivered quickly at the end, is in the vein of Tom Regan - animals have rights, too, because they can feel joy and pain, and all human-caused suffering must end. A noble cause, an excellent premise into an interesting topic, poorly delivered.
 Everyone Should Read this Book March 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a wonderful book! Although I am an admitted 'animal person' I think everyone would (and should) enjoy reading this book for a perspective on life on our planet.
 insightful and well researched February 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My interest in this book is in learning more about animal cognition, behavior, training, etc.
It was a good read. I finished it in just a few days. The stories were varied and colorful. Clearly the author did a lot of research in creating the book.
It is pretty well balanced in the sense you don't have to be an extreme animal rights person to appreciate it.
The only reason I couldn't give 5 starts is that it lacked a bottom line. There were all these wonderful stories about what animals did, but I went away wondering what conclusions to draw. Or at least end the book with some philosophical questions that keep me thinking?
An Eye Opener February 23, 2008
This book provides surprising and intriguing theories about the emotional lives of animals. The author has beliefs that some may find hard to process, but he makes rational connections to valid information. Animals love us and they love each other. This is one explanation. Well-written and easy to follow, really. Anything can be broken down and torn apart as some have done here, but the book has merits. See for yourself.
For an expanded and evidence-based approach to our with animals, particularly companion animals, take a look at this book. I enjoyed it, too, and it provides some surprising insights and valuable, usable information from. It discusses the origin and comprehensive nature of our relationships with animals, providing scientifically sound information on the love we share and the roles we play in each other's lives: The Powerful Bond between People and Pets: Our Boundless Connections to Companion Animals (Practical and Applied Psychology)
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