The edge of evolution: animality, inhumanity, and Doctor Moreau

Description

The book presents a re-reading of H. G. Wells' novel "The Island of Doctor Moreau" as a key to addressing the controversies of our own humanity. It raises the issue: without human exceptionalism, where do ethics come from?.;Cover -- The Edge of  Evolution -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- PART I NOT MEANT TO KNOW -- 1. The Paw -- Taking Exception -- Science and Fiction -- Science Fiction -- 2. The -ism That Wasn't -- It Does Not Please You -- Darwin in the Middle -- Two Windows -- 3. Don't Meddle -- Movies and Moreau -- Sorcery -- Life Science -- PART II THE THING IS AN ABOMINATION -- 4. The House of Pain -- No Pain, No Gain -- Moreau 1, Prendick 0 -- Pain Is Real -- 5. Into the Lab and Onto the Slab -- How -- But Why -- PART III POOR BRUTES -- 6. All the Difference -- Moreau's Man -- Prendick's Gaze -- "No!" -- The Virago -- 7. To the Beasts You May Go -- No Threshold -- Selection and Its Discontents -- The Valley -- PART IV NO ESCAPE -- 8. That Is the Law -- Whose Law? -- Hell Is Real -- The Jesus Moment -- The Rebel -- 9. Beast Monsters -- The Taste of Blood -- The Stubborn Beast Flesh -- The Horror -- 10. Big Thinks -- Suffering and Philosophy -- Science and Humanity -- Glossary -- Index. Cover -- The Edge of  Evolution -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- PART I NOT MEANT TO KNOW -- 1. The Paw -- Taking Exception -- Science and Fiction -- Science Fiction -- 2. The -ism That Wasn't -- It Does Not Please You -- Darwin in the Middle -- Two Windows -- 3. Don't Meddle -- Movies and Moreau -- Sorcery -- Life Science -- PART II THE THING IS AN ABOMINATION -- 4. The House of Pain -- No Pain, No Gain -- Moreau 1, Prendick 0 -- Pain Is Real -- 5. Into the Lab and Onto the Slab -- How -- But Why -- PART III POOR BRUTES -- 6. All the Difference -- Moreau's Man -- Prendick's Gaze -- "No!" -- The Virago -- 7. To the Beasts You May Go -- No Threshold -- Selection and Its Discontents -- The Valley -- PART IV NO ESCAPE -- 8. That Is the Law -- Whose Law? -- Hell Is Real -- The Jesus Moment -- The Rebel -- 9. Beast Monsters -- The Taste of Blood -- The Stubborn Beast Flesh -- The Horror -- 10. Big Thinks -- Suffering and Philosophy -- Science and Humanity -- Glossary -- Index.