Marc Bekoff
Biographic Data
| ID | 161773 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marc Bekoff |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marc |
| FAMILY NAME | Bekoff |
| SIGNATURE | BEKOFF M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Colorado Boulder |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 150 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1975 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Interpretation and Explanation in the Study of Animal Behavior: Volume II: Explanation, Evolution, and Adaptation
Summoning compassion to address the challenges of conservation
Conservation practice is informed by science, but it also reflects ethical beliefs about how humanity ought to value and interact with Earth's biota. As human activities continue to drive extinctions and diminish critical life‐sustaining ecosystem processes, achieving conservation goals becomes increasingly urgent. However, the determination to react decisively can drive conservationists to handle complex challenges without due deliberation, part…
Rewilding Our Hearts: Building Pathways of Compassion and Coexistence
"In wildlife conservation work, rewilding - to make wild once again - refers to the creation of corridors between preserved lands that allow declining populations to rebound. Marc Bekoff, one of our most engaging animal experts and activists, here applies the concept to human attitudes. He argues that unless we rewild ourselves, becoming profoundly reconnected to nature and fundamentally shifting our consciousness, our conservation efforts will h…
Animal Consciousness and Science Matter: Anthropomorphism Is not Anti-science
In 2007 I published a book called Animals Matter (Bekoff 2007a) and at about the same time Erin Williams and Margo DeMello published a book called Why Animals Matter (DeMello and Williams 2007). And just some months ago another book called Why Animals Matter by Marian Dawkins (2012) has been published. I think of it as ‘Dawkins’ Dangerous Idea’. It is often very interesting how communication among colleagues and the publishing industry works and …
Ignoring Nature No More: The Case for Compassionate Conservation
Vulture
Book Review| October 01 2012 Vulture Vulture. By Thom van Dooren. (London, England: Reaktion Books, 2011. 192 pp. Paperback. $19.95, £9.99. ISBN: 978-1861898067). Marc Bekoff Marc Bekoff Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Journal of Animal Ethics (2012) 2 (2): 217–218. https://doi.org/10.5406/janimalethics.2.2.0217 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Shar…
Evolutionary playwork
Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice in Animals and Why It Matters
Giving Voice to the “Voiceless”: Incorporating nonhuman animal perspectives as journalistic sources
As part of journalism's commitment to truth and justice by providing a diversity of relevant points of view, journalists have an obligation to provide the perspective of nonhuman animals in everyday stories that influence the animals’ and our lives. This essay provides justification and guidance on why and how this can be accomplished, recommending that, when writing about nonhuman animals or issues, journalists should: (1) observe, listen to, an…
Animal emotions, wild justice and why they matter: Grieving magpies, a pissy baboon, and empathic elephants
Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals
Reflections on Animal Emotions and Beastly Virtues: Appreciating, Honoring and Respecting the Public Passions of Animals
Interdisciplinary research into animal behavior, cognition, and emotions can illuminate important questions of meaning, including those that are often discussed in religious works. Such questions include who we are in the grand scheme of things, the role science plays in our understanding of the world, and what it means to ‘know’ something. I argue that cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds), properly understood and carefully applied, can…
Naturalizing Anthropomorphism: Behavioral Prompts to Our Humanizing of Animals
Anthropomorphism is the use of human characteristics to describe or explain nonhuman animals. In the present paper, we propose a model for a unified study of such anthropomorphizing. We bring together previously disparate accounts of why and how we anthropomorphize and suggest a means to analyze anthropomorphizing behavior itself. We introduce an analysis of bouts of dyadic play between humans and a heavily anthropomorphized animal, the domestic …
Mammalian Play: Training for the Unexpected
In this review, we present a new conceptual framework for the study of play behavior, a hitherto puzzling array of seemingly purposeless and unrelated behavioral elements that are recognizable as play throughout the mammalian lineage. Our major new functional hypothesis is that play enables animals to develop flexible kinematic and emotional responses to unexpected events in which they experience a sudden loss of control. Specifically, we propose…
The Ethical Limits of Domestication: A Critique of Henry Heffner's Arguments
Henry E. Heffner argues that “animals bred for research are properly viewed as animals who have successfully invaded the laboratory niche, relying heavily on kin selection to perpetuate their genes.” (1999, p. 134). This view of human–animal interactions is the corner-stone of his defense of animal experimentation in two widely-distributed papers (Heffner 1999, 2001). We argue that Heffner's defense lacks adequate attention to ethical distinction…
Paxton's Panorama: Naturalizing the Bonds Between People and Dogs
Paxton's Panorama: Naturalizing the Bonds Between People and Dogs." Anthrozoös, 13(1), pp. 11–12
Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology
Behavioral Interactions and Conflict Among Domestic Dogs, Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, and People in Boulder, Colorado
Interactions among domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), and people were studied at Dry Creek, Boulder, Colorado. Our objective was to develop a basic understanding of the nature of dog—prairie dog interactions in this recreational area, because this is an issue that has high visibility and over which there is conflict in Boulder: There are those who want dogs to run free regardless of their impact on…
Jinxed Lynx
Translocation Effects on the Behavior of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys Ludovicianus)
We examined the effects of translocation on Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) anti-predator behavior by recording response distances and response times to a human intruder in three colonies containing native, translocated, and combined native and translocated prairie dogs. The translocated prairie dogs barked alarms and concealed themselves at significantly greater intruder distances than mixed or native colonies. However, individua…
Deep Ethology, Animal Rights, and the Great Ape/Animal Project: Resisting Speciesism and Expanding the Community of Equals
Interactions Among Dogs, People, and the Environment in Boulder, Colorado: A Case Study
From September 1995 to April 1996 we studied interactions among dogs, people, and the environment in Boulder, Colorado. Data on behavioral disturbances by off-leash dogs who were accompanied by a person were collected with respect to dog-dog and dog-human interactions, dog-wildlife encounters, dogs trampling vegetation, and dogs entering and disturbing bodies of water. A questionnaire also was administered. Behavioral data showed that off-leash d…
A View to a Death in the Morning: Hunting and Nature Through History. Matt Cartmill
1996). A View to a Death in the Morning: Hunting and Nature Through History. Matt Cartmill. Anthrozoos: Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 56-68
Biological Function, Adaptation, and Natural Design
Recently something close to a consensus about the best way to naturalize the notion of biological function appears to be emerging. Nonetheless, teleological notions in biology remain controversial. In this paper we provide a naturalistic analysis for the notion of natural design. Many authors assume that natural design should be assimilated directly to function. Others find the notion problematic because it suggests that evolution is a directed p…
Animal Ethics Reconsidered
Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals
Naturalizing Anthropomorphism: Behavioral Prompts to Our Humanizing of Animals
Anthropomorphism is the use of human characteristics to describe or explain nonhuman animals. In the present paper, we propose a model for a unified study of such anthropomorphizing. We bring together previously disparate accounts of why and how we anthropomorphize and suggest a means to analyze anthropomorphizing behavior itself. We introduce an analysis of bouts of dyadic play between humans and a heavily anthropomorphized animal, the domestic …
Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice in Animals and Why It Matters
Biological Function, Adaptation, and Natural Design
Recently something close to a consensus about the best way to naturalize the notion of biological function appears to be emerging. Nonetheless, teleological notions in biology remain controversial. In this paper we provide a naturalistic analysis for the notion of natural design. Many authors assume that natural design should be assimilated directly to function. Others find the notion problematic because it suggests that evolution is a directed p…
Giving Voice to the “Voiceless”: Incorporating nonhuman animal perspectives as journalistic sources
As part of journalism's commitment to truth and justice by providing a diversity of relevant points of view, journalists have an obligation to provide the perspective of nonhuman animals in everyday stories that influence the animals’ and our lives. This essay provides justification and guidance on why and how this can be accomplished, recommending that, when writing about nonhuman animals or issues, journalists should: (1) observe, listen to, an…
Interactions Among Dogs, People, and the Environment in Boulder, Colorado: A Case Study
From September 1995 to April 1996 we studied interactions among dogs, people, and the environment in Boulder, Colorado. Data on behavioral disturbances by off-leash dogs who were accompanied by a person were collected with respect to dog-dog and dog-human interactions, dog-wildlife encounters, dogs trampling vegetation, and dogs entering and disturbing bodies of water. A questionnaire also was administered. Behavioral data showed that off-leash d…
The Communication of Play Intention: Are Play Signals Functional
Deep Ethology, Animal Rights, and the Great Ape/Animal Project: Resisting Speciesism and Expanding the Community of Equals
Animal emotions, wild justice and why they matter: Grieving magpies, a pissy baboon, and empathic elephants
Reflections on Animal Emotions and Beastly Virtues: Appreciating, Honoring and Respecting the Public Passions of Animals
Interdisciplinary research into animal behavior, cognition, and emotions can illuminate important questions of meaning, including those that are often discussed in religious works. Such questions include who we are in the grand scheme of things, the role science plays in our understanding of the world, and what it means to ‘know’ something. I argue that cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds), properly understood and carefully applied, can…
Paxton's Panorama: Naturalizing the Bonds Between People and Dogs
Paxton's Panorama: Naturalizing the Bonds Between People and Dogs." Anthrozoös, 13(1), pp. 11–12
Behavioral Interactions and Conflict Among Domestic Dogs, Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, and People in Boulder, Colorado
Interactions among domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), and people were studied at Dry Creek, Boulder, Colorado. Our objective was to develop a basic understanding of the nature of dog—prairie dog interactions in this recreational area, because this is an issue that has high visibility and over which there is conflict in Boulder: There are those who want dogs to run free regardless of their impact on…
Translocation Effects on the Behavior of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys Ludovicianus)
We examined the effects of translocation on Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) anti-predator behavior by recording response distances and response times to a human intruder in three colonies containing native, translocated, and combined native and translocated prairie dogs. The translocated prairie dogs barked alarms and concealed themselves at significantly greater intruder distances than mixed or native colonies. However, individua…
Sport Hunting as an Instinct
The Communication of Play Intention: Are Play Signals Functional
Animal Play: Problems and Perspectives
Fighting patterns in young coyotes: Initiation, escalation, and assessment
The fighting patterns of young coyotes were studied and 2,350 fights were analyzed. Our results can be summarized as follows: 1) No major injuries were sustained by any of the infants, even in unritualized bouts. 2) In pairs, there was no relationship between social rank and the proportion of fights that were initiated by either animal. 3) Dominant animals were more likely than subordinate individuals to escalate first (perform the first unprovok…
Animal Ethics Reconsidered
Sport Hunting as an Instinct
Biological Function, Adaptation, and Natural Design
Recently something close to a consensus about the best way to naturalize the notion of biological function appears to be emerging. Nonetheless, teleological notions in biology remain controversial. In this paper we provide a naturalistic analysis for the notion of natural design. Many authors assume that natural design should be assimilated directly to function. Others find the notion problematic because it suggests that evolution is a directed p…
A View to a Death in the Morning: Hunting and Nature Through History. Matt Cartmill
1996). A View to a Death in the Morning: Hunting and Nature Through History. Matt Cartmill. Anthrozoos: Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 56-68
Deep Ethology, Animal Rights, and the Great Ape/Animal Project: Resisting Speciesism and Expanding the Community of Equals
Interactions Among Dogs, People, and the Environment in Boulder, Colorado: A Case Study
From September 1995 to April 1996 we studied interactions among dogs, people, and the environment in Boulder, Colorado. Data on behavioral disturbances by off-leash dogs who were accompanied by a person were collected with respect to dog-dog and dog-human interactions, dog-wildlife encounters, dogs trampling vegetation, and dogs entering and disturbing bodies of water. A questionnaire also was administered. Behavioral data showed that off-leash d…
Translocation Effects on the Behavior of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys Ludovicianus)
We examined the effects of translocation on Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) anti-predator behavior by recording response distances and response times to a human intruder in three colonies containing native, translocated, and combined native and translocated prairie dogs. The translocated prairie dogs barked alarms and concealed themselves at significantly greater intruder distances than mixed or native colonies. However, individua…
Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology
Behavioral Interactions and Conflict Among Domestic Dogs, Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, and People in Boulder, Colorado
Interactions among domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), and people were studied at Dry Creek, Boulder, Colorado. Our objective was to develop a basic understanding of the nature of dog—prairie dog interactions in this recreational area, because this is an issue that has high visibility and over which there is conflict in Boulder: There are those who want dogs to run free regardless of their impact on…
Jinxed Lynx
Paxton's Panorama: Naturalizing the Bonds Between People and Dogs
Paxton's Panorama: Naturalizing the Bonds Between People and Dogs." Anthrozoös, 13(1), pp. 11–12
Mammalian Play: Training for the Unexpected
In this review, we present a new conceptual framework for the study of play behavior, a hitherto puzzling array of seemingly purposeless and unrelated behavioral elements that are recognizable as play throughout the mammalian lineage. Our major new functional hypothesis is that play enables animals to develop flexible kinematic and emotional responses to unexpected events in which they experience a sudden loss of control. Specifically, we propose…
The Ethical Limits of Domestication: A Critique of Henry Heffner's Arguments
Henry E. Heffner argues that “animals bred for research are properly viewed as animals who have successfully invaded the laboratory niche, relying heavily on kin selection to perpetuate their genes.” (1999, p. 134). This view of human–animal interactions is the corner-stone of his defense of animal experimentation in two widely-distributed papers (Heffner 1999, 2001). We argue that Heffner's defense lacks adequate attention to ethical distinction…
Reflections on Animal Emotions and Beastly Virtues: Appreciating, Honoring and Respecting the Public Passions of Animals
Interdisciplinary research into animal behavior, cognition, and emotions can illuminate important questions of meaning, including those that are often discussed in religious works. Such questions include who we are in the grand scheme of things, the role science plays in our understanding of the world, and what it means to ‘know’ something. I argue that cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds), properly understood and carefully applied, can…
Naturalizing Anthropomorphism: Behavioral Prompts to Our Humanizing of Animals
Anthropomorphism is the use of human characteristics to describe or explain nonhuman animals. In the present paper, we propose a model for a unified study of such anthropomorphizing. We bring together previously disparate accounts of why and how we anthropomorphize and suggest a means to analyze anthropomorphizing behavior itself. We introduce an analysis of bouts of dyadic play between humans and a heavily anthropomorphized animal, the domestic …
Animal emotions, wild justice and why they matter: Grieving magpies, a pissy baboon, and empathic elephants
Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals
Giving Voice to the “Voiceless”: Incorporating nonhuman animal perspectives as journalistic sources
As part of journalism's commitment to truth and justice by providing a diversity of relevant points of view, journalists have an obligation to provide the perspective of nonhuman animals in everyday stories that influence the animals’ and our lives. This essay provides justification and guidance on why and how this can be accomplished, recommending that, when writing about nonhuman animals or issues, journalists should: (1) observe, listen to, an…
Vulture
Book Review| October 01 2012 Vulture Vulture. By Thom van Dooren. (London, England: Reaktion Books, 2011. 192 pp. Paperback. $19.95, £9.99. ISBN: 978-1861898067). Marc Bekoff Marc Bekoff Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Journal of Animal Ethics (2012) 2 (2): 217–218. https://doi.org/10.5406/janimalethics.2.2.0217 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Shar…
Evolutionary playwork
Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice in Animals and Why It Matters
Animal Consciousness and Science Matter: Anthropomorphism Is not Anti-science
In 2007 I published a book called Animals Matter (Bekoff 2007a) and at about the same time Erin Williams and Margo DeMello published a book called Why Animals Matter (DeMello and Williams 2007). And just some months ago another book called Why Animals Matter by Marian Dawkins (2012) has been published. I think of it as ‘Dawkins’ Dangerous Idea’. It is often very interesting how communication among colleagues and the publishing industry works and …
Psychology (19 works) · Biology (14 works) · Human-Animal Interaction Studies (11 works) · Ecology (10 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Environmental ethics (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Animal welfare (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works)