Marc Bekoff - Do Animals Have a Soul?

Do animals have souls? Tucked inside this question's simple syntax is a whole herd of very big, very intriguing and quite elusive questions. Such as, Is there a soul? And if so, how do we define it? What is it made of, and what is its purpose? Do all sentient beings have one—humans and animals alike?

Ontological questions such as these pose particularly fascinating challenges, and to tackle this one, EnlightenNext's Ross Robertson interviewed Marc Bekoff, biology professor, fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, and regional coordinator for Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots program. Bekoff, the author of books with titles like, How Animals Talk, Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues, and the three-volume, Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, is a dedicated scientist as well as a passionate advocate, an animal biologist, and an ardent believer in the rich inner life of our fellow creatures.

Bekoff's ability to blend scientific knowledge with intuitive understanding helps to shed light on the mysterious nature of animals' inner lives. Having closely observed elephants, coyotes, wolves, and primates, both in captivity and in the wild, Bekoff believes he has witnessed distinct expressions of altruism, telepathy, empathy, sympathy, and the full range of emotional and social experience usually considered to be found only in members of our own species. If animals truly possess many—or all—of the fundamental traits and capacities we do, the implications for our own identity and for the way we relate to all of life's creation are profound indeed.

BIO

Marc Bekoff is Professor of Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, a fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, and recipient of their Exemplar Award for outstanding contributions to the field of animal behavior. He is co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals: Citizens for Responsible Animal Behavior Studies. Marc is on the Board of Directors of The Fauna Sanctuary, The Cougar Fund, the Skyline Sanctuary and Education Center, and the Prairie Preservation Alliance and on the advisory board for Animal Defenders and for the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group and the conservation organization SINAPU. He has been part of the international program, Science and the Spiritual Quest II and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) program on Science, Ethics, and Religion. Marc is also an honorary member of Animalisti Italiani and Fundacion Altarriba, and on the Scientific Review Board of the Great Ape Trust. In 2006 he was named a Fellow of the Dancing Star Foundation and an honorary board member of Rational Animal. In 2005 Marc was presented with The Bank One Faculty Community Service Award for the work he has done with children, senior citizens, and prisoners. He has written more than 200 articles and is the author or editor of numerous books, including the Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, The Cognitive Animal (co-edited with C. Allen and G.M.Burghardt); The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for the Animals We Love (co-written with Jane Goodall), and the Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. Other recent books include The Smile of a Dolphin, Minding Animals, and Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues: Reflections on Redecorating Nature.