Plutarchs Three Treatises on Animals

This volume offers a new translation of Plutarchs three treatises on animalsOn the Cleverness of Animals, Whether Beasts Are Rational, and On Eating Meataccompanied by introductions and explanatory commentaries. The accompanying commentaries are designed not only to elucidate the meaning of the Greek text, but to call attention to Plutarchs striking anticipations of arguments central to current philosophical and ethological discourse in defense of the position that non-human animals have intellectual and emotional dimensions that make them worthy of inclusion in the moral universe of human beings. Plutarchs Three Treatises on Animals will be of interest to students of ancient philosophy and natural science, and to all readers who wish to explore the history of thought on humannon-human animal relations, in which the animal treatises of Plutarch hold a pivotal position.