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Public Lecture: Dog Love/Human Love - Psychological Dimensions of Studying Emotions Across the Species
Speaker: Jeffrey Masson
Date: Friday 2 November, 2007
Time: 7.30pm to 9pm,
Location: Lecture theatre H1.26 (Level 1, H Building), Monash University, Caulfield Campus (campus info. below)
RSVP: Friday, September, 21st (e.gullone@med.monash.edu.au)
Jeffrey Masson was a professor of Sanskrit for many years, then trained as a Freudian psychoanalyst in Toronto. He was briefly projects director of the Sigmund Freud Archives. (His firing caused a furor, a series of articles in The New Yorker, a 10 year libel trial and a change of career). He edited Freud's letters to Fliess for Harvard University Press and wrote about the seduction theory in his book The Assault on Truth. Subsequently he wrote about animal emotions in a series of books, the best known of which are: When Elephants Weep; Dogs Never Lie About Love; The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats, and The Pig Who Sang to the Moon. He lives in Auckland with his wife, Leila, a pediatrician, and their two boys, Ilan, 10, and Manu, 5, three cats and three rats. He is currently writing a book about veganism: The Face on Your Plate, and researching the role of German psychiatry during the holocaust.
Abstract:
Although Darwin claimed long ago that there were few differences between humans, animals and other animal species (at least mammals) when it came to mental characteristics, there has been a great reluctance among scientists to acknowledge this similarity when it comes to the emotions. I look at some of the reasons for this hesitation. In the last ten years, the situation seems to have altered and more and more scientists are interested in the topic of animal emotions. This change too can be examined. What are the psychological barriers to examining the emotions of others, whether within our own species or of another species? Has our skepticism (or denial) been at a psychological cost? In this talk, using examples from dogs (love, joie de vivre), cats (contentment), whales (mothering), and elephants (grief), I suggest that other animals may have emotions different (deeper?) than our own and that it would benefit us to study them in some detail.
Caulfield campus map and contact information
Caulfield campus is located 9 kilometres from Melbourne's city centre.
Travelling to Caulfield campus
By car: the nine kilometres (six mile) trip from the city of Melbourne will take about 25 minutes in peak hour traffic and 15 minutes at other times. If you are coming from Melbourne airport, add another 45 minutes in peak hour and 30 minutes at other times. A taxi rank is situated on the railway station side of Sir John Monash Drive. (Melways map ref. 68 F1)
By train: the Caulfield Railway Station is adjacent to the campus. Four lines stop at the station: Cranbourne, Dandenong, Frankston and Pakenham.
By tram: the number three tram from Swanston Street in Melbourne will also take you directly to Caulfield campus.
By bus:
- Bus Route 624 -- Kew, Auburn Railway Station, Caulfield Railway Station, Chadstone Shopping Centre, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, Oakleigh Railway Station.
- Bus Route 900 -- Stud Park Shopping Centre, Waverley Park, Monash University Clayton campus, Huntingdale Station, Oakleigh Railway Station, Chadstone Shopping Centre, Monash University Caulfield campus, Caulfield Railway Station.
Parking at Caulfield campus
A user pay, multi-level car park is available on campus for staff, students, visitors and the general public. Entry to the car park is from Princes Avenue. Ticket machine parking ranging from one to five hours is also available in surrounding streets.
Campus map
