Creatures With Conscience

Cooking doesn’t cut it. Tools have been outruled. So, what exactly is it that separates humans from animals? Well, it certainly isn’t the ability to feel complex emotions or tell right from wrong. Professor Marc Berkoff from the University of Colorado at Boulder considers animals ranging from mice and rats to dolphins to chimpanzees in his new book, Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals. Using examples such as the spindle cells in their brains that cause dolphins to feel empathy for other species, Berkoff argues that morals are hard-wired into the brains of all mammals, providing further proof that humans and animals are not so different after all.