Animals and Nature: Cultural Myths, Cultural Realities

Patrick Colgan is the former executive director of the Canadian Museum
of Nature.

Preece, a political scientist at Wilfrid Laurier University, coauthored
with his spouse Lorna Chamberlain the stimulating Animal Welfare and
Human Values. In this book, he argues convincingly that Western sympathy
for nature is greater than many critics allow, while that of Asian and
aboriginal cultures is less so, and that these critical distortions are
divisive and harmful. Preece effectively shows the need to replace
relativism and what he aptly terms “advocacy scholarship” with
balanced perspectives. His argument is supported by a wealth of material
from anthropology, literature, philosophy, and general history.

Preece persuasively argues the central point that conduct called for in
the formal writings of a culture is often very different from actual
practice. He carefully analyzes such key topics as animal “sports”
and welfare globally, the alleged speech of Chief Seattle, ambivalence
in attitudes toward nature (especially other animals) in all societies,
and the antagonism between oneness with nature and human justice.
Individual chapters helpfully examine rationalism, alienation from
nature, and philosophical frameworks from the Great Chain of Being to
the theory of evolution.

The longest chapter is a powerful assault on the notion of superior
Asian and aboriginal harmony with nature. The author’s criticism of
aboriginal hunting may not be politically correct, but it is very much
on the money. As behooves a political scientist, Preece recounts
advances made through legislation in such areas as vivisection. The plea
in the final chapter for a basic shared humanity softens the focus of
the book unduly; the ending would have been improved had the author
considered the consequences of his thesis in terms of programmatic steps
for enhancing understanding of nature and among human groups.

Preece offers mordant criticism of many of those who have presented
unbalanced views, most notably David Suzuki and George Wenzel. The
supporting content is broad, scholarly, and fulsome, so much so that
Preece is rightly concerned that the reader may be “drowned in
evidence.” Amid such rich content, a few problems are not unexpected:
for instance, why is philosophical materialism relativist? And why is
George Grant Straussian? Stricter application of evolutionary theory
would have strengthened several arguments while eliminating the outmoded
concept of “telos.” Still, in a world increasingly faddish and
uncritical, this book makes a valuable contribution.