beings otherwise connected in the continuum of life. The whole capitalistic society is anthropocentric in its main core. His reflection, inspired by philosophers such as Agamben, Derrida, and Haraway, indicates how overcoming anthropocentrism can only occur in an animal-political form of life as a joyful and sensual hybrid. Following this is the essay by Roberto Marchesini (editor of the review Animal Studies: Rivista Italiana di Antispecismo and member of the International Critical Animal Studies Network) who demonstrates the presence of animal subjectivity through scientific and philosophical ethology; and then that by Laura Bazzicalupo who interprets the Anthropocene through Foucauldian categories as a biopolitical battle for the control of animality and biological life by political and economic devices. The book closes with the brief overview by Valentina Sonzogni who examines several cases of speciesism in contemporary Italian art, discussing artworks made of dead animals and, through them, documents the insensitivity to the pain of others characteristic of some artists. Finally, Leonardo Caffo, a prominent vegan and anti-speciesist voice in the media, articulates an ethical vision of a relationship with animals that is no longer instrumental but carried out “only for them,” insisting that the time has come to talk about animality without any relation with human purposes (however morally good or socially revolutionary). Animality in Contemporary Italian Philosophy introduces some of the most prominent Italian philosophers engaged in animal studies to an English-speaking audience. It is an indispensable resource written by highly respected researchers and addressed to those who care about nonhuman animals and our relationship with them.
58
