Minding Animals in the Old and New Worlds

Relying on current research in cognitive science and the philosophy of animal cognition, Minding Animals in the Old and New Worlds explores how humans have understood non-human animals in the Iberian world, from the Middle Ages through the Early Modern period.

Steven Wagschal is a professor and chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University, Bloomington.

"Minding Animals is a carefully researched, accessible, and highly readable book that makes a valuable contribution to the history of animal cognition."

Martha Few, Pennsylvania State University:

"This is a fine example of literary research and writing that ties into recent trends in interdisciplinary human–animal studies, ethology, and medieval and early modern studies."

Marc Bekoff:

"Steven Wagschal's book is a goldmine of information about animal minds."

John Beusterien, Texas Tech University:

"Minding Animals is a welcome addition to the growing body of studies about animals in Hispanism. It shows how early Spanish literature advocates the mindedness of animals and teaches nuanced meanings of anthropomorphism as a productive way to understand animals."

Abel Alves, Department of History, Ball State University:

"Minding Animals in the Old and New Worlds makes a truly major contribution to the growing field of medieval and early modern animal studies—a field with which Steven Wagschal is well versed. Minding Animals in the Old and New Worlds is an extremely well-written piece of sound scholarship that is never gratuitous in its use of conceptual terminology."

Adrienne Martin, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of California, Davis:

"Ultimately, Minding Animals in the Old and New Worlds places the animal at the center of early modern literary studies, it also acts as a robust call for constructive anthropomorphism, following upon the lines of animal rights advocacy initiated in the utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer’s groundbreaking Animal Liberation. Steven Wagschal suggests appropriate ways in which to ‘mind’ or consider and treat animals, modes that adopt an animal-centric perspective and reject anthropectomy."