9/9, Sunnvale, Food for Thought: Pleasurable Kingdom

[Guest guest]

What: Food For Thought Book Club: Pleasurable KingdomWhere: Sunnyvale (Udupi Palace, 976 E El Camino Real )When: 9/9/07 Sunday, 3:00 pmDiscussion Host: DanaRSVP: http://www.bayareaveg.org/rsvp.htm?id=1601Full Details: http://www.bayareaveg.org/events.php?EID=1601#1601

 

From http://www.pleasurablekingdom.com/index.php Hi folks

 

The FFT book club meets bi-monthly to read/discuss veg and AR non-fiction books at various locations in SF, East Bay, & South Bay. Previous selections have included Free the Animals, The China Study, Pig Who Sang to the Moon, Animal Liberation, Living Among Meat Eaters, etc. The next book is Pleasurable Kingdom (please see below for more information about the book) and our final book for 2007 is Committed: A Rabble-Rouser's Memoir

You are welcome to attend one or all discussions. Our only caveat is that you've read the book, and in respect for the animals, all edibles consumed during the discussion are vegan. We are meeting at Udupi Palace in Sunnyvale for some delicious vegan Indian food (the South Bay has the best selection of veg Indian food). We have room for one more person to join us.

Thanks to Dana who suggested the book & volunteered to lead the discussion!

Cheers,Tammy

 

 

 

 

From http://www.pleasurablekingdom.com/index.php

Animal pain and stress, once controversial, are now acknowledged by legislation in many countries, but there is no formal recognition of animals' ability to feel pleasure. Pleasurable Kingdom is the first book for lay-readers to present new evidence that animals — like humans — enjoy themselves. It debunks the popular perception that life for most is a continuous, grim struggle for survival and the avoidance of pain. Instead it suggests that creatures from birds to baboons feel good thanks to play, sex, touch, food, anticipation, comfort, aesthetics, and more. Combining rigorous evidence, elegant argument and amusing anecdotes, leading animal behavior researcher Jonathan Balcombe proposes that the possibility of positive feelings in creatures other than humans has important ethical ramifications for both science and society.

Contents

 

Why Animal Pleasure

 

Survival of the Happiest: The Adaptive Basis for Pleasure

Forbidden Pleasures: Our Reluctance to Acknowledge Animal Pleasure

Feeling Smart: The Intelligence of Pleasure

What Animal Pleasure

 

Play: Fun for Its Own Sake

Food: The Pleasures of Sustenance

Sex: Procreation and Recreation

Touch: Making Contact with Pleasure

Love: The Ripening Warmth of Intimacy

Other Pleasures: Esthetics, Humor and Beyond

From Flies to Fish: At the Margins of Pleasure

From Animal Pleasure

 

Feeling Good, Doing Good: Implications of a Pleasurable Kingdom