The Moral Lives of Animals

By Dale Peterson

A provocative and brilliantly original exploration of what morality means, and what animals can teach us about it.

Wild elephants walking along a trail stop and spontaneously try to protect and assist a weak and dying fellow elephant. Laboratory rats, finding other rats caged nearby in distressing circumstances, proceed to rescue them. A chimpanzee in a zoo loses his own life trying to save an unrelated infant who has fallen into a watery moat.

The examples above and many others, argues Dale Peterson, show that our fellow creatures have powerful impulses toward cooperation, generosity, and fairness. Yet it is commonly held that we Homo sapiens are the only animals with a moral sense-that we are somehow above and apart from our fellow creatures.

This rigorous and stimulating book challenges that notion, and it shows the profound connections-the moral continuum-that link humans to many other species. Peterson shows how much animal behavior follows principles embodied in humanity's ancient moral codes, from the Ten Commandments to the New Testament. Understanding the moral lives of animals offers new insight into our own.

Dale Peterson's biography Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book and Boston Globe Best Book of 2006. His other publications include Visions of Caliban (with Jane Goodall) and Demonic Males (with Richard Wrangham). Peterson lectures in English at Tufts University.

Advance reviews for The Moral Lives of Animals:

"Dale Peterson adds originality and astonishing clarity to a discussion that has engaged science and philosophy in sometimes heated debate. This book is a delight to read. The Moral Lives of Animals will change the way many think of animals, and it will vindicate what others have always known intuitively. It deserves to be an instant bestseller."—Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall in a backpage interview in the current issue of Whole Living and gives a shout out to The Moral Lives of Animals:

I’m currently reading…

At the moment, I’m proofreading Dale Peterson’s new book, The Moral Lives of Animals, to be published by Bloomsbury, March 2011. Dale is the author of my biography, Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man.

Reviews for The Moral Lives of Animals:

“The Moral Lives of Animals, is an original, wide-ranging, and ambitious book…By tracing evolutionary continuity, Peterson shows how morality can be understood as a gift of biological evolution — one that is not limited to humans…a refreshing perspective on animal moral behavior…Peterson’s book offers s a wealth of ideas for future research and debate.”—Orion

Author Dale Peterson talks on Dog Talk about his new book The Moral Lives Of Animals and how Jane Goodall inspired his fascinating journey to discover whether animals have a moral sense.

“Well written, well researched, and forward looking… The Moral Lives of Animals is eye opening, original, wide-ranging, and ambitious book… Peterson's book gives us a wealth of new and powerfully original ideas for future research and debate.”—PsychologyToday.com

“For people who think that humans are the only species to live with any kind of morality, Peterson's book might be a game-changer. The Moral Lives of Animals is a thoroughly interesting read.” —Treehugger

“[Peterson’s] arguments are lucid and his writing is compellingly based upon decades of research and observation. Told in a loose anecdotal style, with plenty of thought-provoking details, The Moral Lives of Animals is likely to have you reconsidering your relationship with Fido or Mouser… propelling the book is Peterson’s gift for graceful, illustrative expression…This is a very serious book, one in which serious ideas are explored thoughtfully but also in a style accessible to the interested non-specialist. As for why anyone should be interested—well, many of us share our lives with animals every day. Even those of who do not, nonetheless share the planet with them.”—Popmatters

“This is a book that could actually change readers' assumptions, opinions and beliefs about the differences between Homo sapiens and other animals…Peterson traces an ambitious and exciting arc between gender relations, hierarchal authoritarian structures, ownership and displays of affiliation, and proposes that we have veered from Darwin’s findings that we are not unique, and that our fellow creatures have much higher order of feelings then we might be comfortable with. Sharing fascinating anecdotes about elephants, whales and primates, Peterson highlights the unity rather than diversity of social structures around sharing food, intimacy, competition for resources, grooming, mourning and dominance. A thorough and sophisticated book, yet accessible and enjoyable even for those with little previous exposure to the topic.” —Kirkus Reviews

"As he breaks down moral issues of behavior into larger issues such as authority, possession, cooperation, flexibility and peace, Peterson gives examples from scientific studies of animal behavior that demonstrate the moral “rule” in question. Species range from fireflies to bonobos, but all illustrate moral behavior and all show us that we are not alone in possessing a moral code.”—Booklist

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The Moral Lives of Animals