@article{1480502,
      recid = {1480502},
      author = {McKenna, Erin,},
      title = {Pets, People, and Pragmatism /},
      pages = {1 online resource (264 p.)},
      abstract = {Pets, People, and Pragmatism examines human relationships  with pets without assuming that such relations are either  benign or unnatural and to be avoided. The book addresses a  lack of respect in pet-people relationships; for respectful  relationships to be a real possibility, however, humans  must make the effort to understand the beings with which we  live, work, and play.American pragmatism understands that  humans and other animal beings have been interacting and  transforming each other for thousands of years. There is  nothing "unnatural" about the human domestication of other  animal beings, though domestication does raise specific  practical and ethical questions. A pragmatist account of  our relationship with those animal beings commonly  considered as pets does not prohibit the use of these  beings in research, entertainment, competition, or work. It  does, however, find abuse and neglect ethical.Because abuse  can occur in any use of other animal beings, this  pragmatist account takes up the abusive practices in  research, entertainment, competition, and work without  arguing that these practices are inherently abusive. Some  of the sources of abuse have been addressed by utilitarian  and deontological accounts, but a pragmatist evolutionary  perspective offers unique insights and results in some  surprising conclusions: For instance, there may be an  ethical obligation to let a horse race, a dog show, or a  cat compete in agility.Pets, People, and Pragmatism embarks  on a philosophical journey that will captivate scholars and  pet enthusiasts alike. It provides an important  contribution to longstanding debates in the area of animal  issues and strengthens the idea of multiple approaches to  nonhuman beings. It also opens space for approaches that  challenge some of the assumptions in the field of  philosophy that have resulted in a dualistic and  hierarchical approach to metaphysics and ethics.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1480502},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823252404},
}