Citation
Hediger, Ryan (2018) Animal suicide and "anthropodenial". Animal Sentience 20(16)
Commentary Type
Open Commentary
Thread
David M. Peña-Guzmán, Can nonhuman animals commit suicide?
Abstract
Increasing understanding of the impressive cognitive and social capacities of nonhuman animals suggests the possibility that they may sometimes commit suicide. Such notions tend to be dismissed as “anthropomorphism.” That interpretive hazard, I argue, must be weighed against the opposite hazard of “anthropodenial” — “the a priori rejection of shared characteristics between humans and animals” (de Waal 2006). If animals do commit suicide, how often is it motivated precisely by the impact of humans on animal life?
DOI
10.51291/2377-7478.1304
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