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This course considers how we (as human societies) are to relate to non-human animal life. The first part of the course examines two distinct approaches. One approach considers non-human animal life as fundamentally different in kind from human life: an unbridgeable chasm lies between the human and non-human animal. The other considers human and non-human animal life on a spectrum, emphasizing continuities. The course proceeds by laying out evidence for the “continuities” view, and asks: “Do animals have religion?” We try to answer this question by working through animal perception, concepts, and proto-language (the evolution of language). Sources come from Christian theology and philosophy, Buddho-Daoist writings, and theoretical biology.