The ethical treatment of non-human animals is an increasingly significant issue, directly affecting how people share the planet with other creatures and visualize themselves within the natural world.
The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Animal Ethics
is a key reference source in this area, looking specifically at the role religion plays in the formation of ethics around these concerns.
Featuring thirty-five chapters by a team of international contributors, the handbook is divided into two parts. The first gives an overview of fifteen of the major world religions’ attitudes towards animal ethics and protection. The second features five sections addressing the following topics:
Human Interaction with Animals
Killing and Exploitation
Religious and Secular Law
Evil and Theodicy
Souls and Afterlife
This handbook demonstrates that religious traditions, despite often being anthropocentric, do have much to offer to those seeking a framework for a more enlightened relationship between humans and non-human animals. As such,
is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies, theology, and animal ethics as well as those studying the philosophy of religion and ethics more generally.