A study of pathological concepts of animal life in Continental philosophy from Bergson to Haraway Amongst contemporary debates about our relation to non-human animals, our use of them for scientific research remains a hugely contentious issue, and one that many Continental philosophical engagements with 'the animal question' have (rightly) been accused of shying away from. But can Continental approaches to the categories of animality and organic life help us to reconsider our treatment of non-human animals? Wahida Khandker looks at the philosophical assumptions underpinning these debates by following the historical and philosophical development of the concept of 'pathological life' as a means of understanding organic life as a whole. She explores the significance of this across philosophy and the life sciences through the work of a number of key thinkers of life and process, from Henri Bergson to Donna Haraway, and argues that the concept of pathological life plays a pivotal role in contemporary reconfigurations of the human-animal distinction. Wahida Khandker is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University. Cover image: Theory, mixed media on canvas, 40 x 40″ (c) Simon Kenny, simonkenny.artweb.com Cover design: [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com

Wahida Khandker is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has contributed to numerous philosophy journals.