On Animals: Volume II: Theological Ethics

(Hardback)

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This book presents an authoritative and comprehensive survey of human practice in relation to other animals, together with a Christian ethical analysis building on the theological account of animals which David Clough developed in On Animals Volume I: Systematic Theology (2012). It argues that a Christian understanding of other animals has radical implications for their treatment by humans, with the human use and abuse of non-human animals for food the most urgent immediate priority. Following an introduction examining the task of theological ethics in relation to non-human animals and the way it relates to other accounts of animal ethics, this book surveys and assess the use humans make of other animals for food, for clothing, for labour, as research subjects, for sport and entertainment, as pets or companions, and human impacts on wild animals. The result is both a state-of-the-art account of what humans are doing to other animals, and a persuasive argument that Christians in particular have strong faith-based reasons to acknowledge the significance of the issues raised and change their practice in response.

Reviews

CLOUGHS BOOK IS crisply written, fast reading, and impressively filled with meticulously researched statistics on human use of domestic animals and human impact upon wild animals and ecosystems. * Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology *
This finished work now makes Clough the undisputed leader of the red-hot field of Christian animal ethics It is an absolute triumph. Now the undisputed seminal text in the field, it will likely stay that way for years (and maybe decades) to come. * Reading Religion *
There is no more important treatment of ethical questions than David Cloughs two-volume work On Animals (Bloomsbury), which he completed last year. The first volume, Systematic Theology, offers a clear-minded theological account of the interconnectedness of all things. The second, Theological Ethics, presents a series of proposals on what those interconnections require of us. Clough seems to have thought through every possible question from every possible angle... * The Christian Century *
Clough has done an enormous service to the Christian community - and to animal advocates - by developing theological objections to the status quo. On Animals is a major accomplishment, and I hope that it gets the attention it deserves. * Metapsychology *
Without doubt the finest and most extensive and comprehensively argued work on the theological ethics of animals produced by a Christian ethicist to date. * Animal Welfare *
Readers of Volume One of David Cloughs massive work, On Animals, will definitely not be disappointed with Volume Two. In both, his concern is with relationships between human and non-human animals. In the first volume, he probes a systematic theological understanding of doctrinal foundations embedded in creation, reconciliation, and redemption. In this second volume, he frames a critical Christian theological ethic aimed at benefitting both humans and other animals in relation to humans. Cloughs reach is astonishingincluding humans need or want for food, help in labor, desire for entertainment, companionship, clothing, medical research, impact on wild animals, and the whole in relation to God. Most important to Clough is genuine human concern for Christians to take seriously the treatment of non-human animals. This yields radical implications for human and Christian practice, especially (though not solely) regarding food. I have seen no other writings that offer such a broad as well as deep overview of what humans are doing to other animals, or what they could do better for their animal neighbors throughout the world. * Margaret A. Farley, Gilbert L. Stark Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics, Yale University Divinity School, USA *
On Animals I and II together represent the most significant Christian theological and ethical treatment of animals in the history of Christian ethics as an academic discipline. David Clough's devastating analysis of the systematic human mistreatment of animals, especially in the food industry, will have a revolutionary impact, not just on an academic field but on lived Christian behavior -- including my own. Every so often a book is produced that sets the standard for all other work in a field. This is one of those books. * David P. Gushee, Mercer University and President of the American Academy of Religion, USA *
David Cloughs much anticipated new volume picks up where he left off in volume one, redefining the very nature of systematic theology, and giving us new eyes to see not only theology but also Gods world. No theologian writing today has a deeper or richer understanding of what it means to be a co-creature than Clough. He is our most able theological guide in thinking about animals, food, and the built environment and this text (along with volume 1) is a redefining moment for how we should teach theology and hopefully a redefining moment for how we should live in the world with our animal-kin. * Willie James Jennings, Yale Divinity School, USA *
David Cloughs On Animals is indisputably the most important and comprehensive theological treatment of animals to have appeared in any language at any time in the Christian tradition. * Brian Brock, University of Aberdeen, UK *
David Clough develops a careful, thorough, and robust Christian ethics offering an invitational vision for relationships with other animals that is inclusive and non-exploitative. This remarkable and invaluable study will be the definitive work on the subject for many years. * Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat and Protest Kitchen (Continuum, 1999), USA *

Author Bio

David Clough is Professor of Theological Ethics in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Chester, UK.