PART I of the interview with Marc Bekoff: ‘Animals have emotions and morality’
It took some time, but finally it is online: the first part of the interview with Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus Ecology and Evolutionairy Biology from the University of Colorado, and specialized in the social behaviour and emotional lives of animals. As a bonus there is a video, with many thanks to Robin Van Nuffel!
The interview has been published in the science magazine EOS (in Dutch) and can be downloaded here.
The second part of the interview ”More compassion for animals feeds into more compassion for people’ will be published online soon.
Preview video of the interview with ethologist Marc Bekoff
This short video is a teaser for the interview with American ethologist dr. Marc Bekoff.
The first part of the interview will appear soon on my website (in English) and in the science magazine Eos (Dutch only). I talked to Bekoff about emotions, morality, intelligence, consciousness, pain and tool use in animals. Bekoff strongly believes in Darwin’s concept of evolutionary continuity where differences between species are differences in degree and not in kind. This means that if we have a certain characteristic – for example empathy or pain – animals have it too, but in a different degree.
The second part of the interview will appear later on my website. In part two Bekoff addresses the artificial dichotomy between men and the other animals, ‘whom’ we eat, how we treat animals and vegetarianism. Bekoff concludes by sharing the biggest change he believes the world needs right now and how we can help to bring about this change.
The Cove and 11 facts on dolphin higher cognitive functioning
Image credit: Ramiro Espinoza
In 2003 I had a close encounter with a Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) along the shores of Peninsula Valdez, Argentina. I was impressed by the gentle way in which a whale glided along the boat; touching it smoothly and again not, saying hello in it’s own way. If I wouldn’t have been so stunned I could just have made contact with this intelligent and sensitive animal.
The intelligence of dolphins – and other cetaceans – has been well documented and is widely accepted in science. Cetaceans have large brains in relation to the size of their bodies. It is also known that Cetaceans are not only intelligent, but use tools, display a sense of self-awareness, have emotional responses, can master a symbolic language and coordinate social behaviour.
