Without a Tear: Our Tragic Relationship with Animals

By Mark H. Bernstein

Book Overview

In Without a Tear Mark H. Bernstein begins with one of our most common and cherished moral beliefs: that it is wrong to intentionally and gratuitously inflict harm on the innocent. Over the course of the book, he shows how this apparently innocuous commitment requires that we drastically revise many of our most common practices involving nonhuman animals.

Most people who write about our ethical obligations concerning animals base their arguments on emotional appeals or contentious philosophical assumptions; Bernstein, however, argues from reasons but carries little theoretical baggage. He considers the issues in a religious context, where he finds that Judaism in particular has the resources to ground moral obligations to animals. Without a Tear also makes novel use of feminist ethics to add to the case for drawing animals more closely into our ethical world.

Bernstein details the realities of factory farms, animal-based research, and hunting fields, and contrasting these chilling facts with our moral imperatives clearly shows the need for fundamental changes to some of our most basic animal institutions. The tightly argued, provocative claims in Without a Tear will be an eye-opening experience for animal lovers, scholars, and people of good faith everywhere.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0252071980
• ISBN13: 9780252071980
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A Real Eye Opener

I am a student at OSU and I recently read the book for an English class. This book, as referred to in the title, was a real eye opener. Bernstein touches on an array of subjects including factory farming, the value of humans and animals, and animal experimentation. I had no idea that animals were treated so badly in our society. However, the author does a good job in conveying these horrific facts in the book. He also does a good job in his research. From the very beginning, it is obvious that the author did a thorough job in researching and supporting his arguments. The book is very persuasive because the author presents his argument, and immediately addresses the possible counter arguments. With this structure, it is difficult to disagree with his opinions. Overall, the book kept my interest throughout and I would recommend it to anyone who is curious about our relationship with animals.