CREATURES LIKE US

As a child brought up among animals, Lynne Sharpe never doubted they were essentially 'creatures like us'. It came a shock to learn that others did not agree. Here she exposes the bizarre way in which many philosophers - including even some great and humane ones -- have repeatedly talked and written about animals. They have discussed the topic in terms of non-existent abstract 'animals', conceived as defective humans, entirely neglecting the experience of people who have wide practical knowledge of companion animals through working with them. She testifies to the interesting nature of these creatures' lives, noting that the usual narrow approach to animals carries with it also a distorted notion of human life as essentially cerebral and language-centred.