The Philosopher's Dog

In this lyrical and beautifully written book Raimond Gaita tells inspirational, poignant, sometimes funny but never sentimental stories of the dogs, cats and cockatoos that lived and died within his own family. He asks fascinating questions about animals: Is it wrong to attribute the concepts of love, devotion, loyalty, grief or friendship to them? Why do we care so much for some creatures but not for others? Why are we so concerned to prove that animals have minds? Reflecting on these questions, Raimond Gaita pleads that we seriously ask ourselves what it means to be creatures of 'flesh and blood'. He discusses mortality and sexuality, the relations between story telling, philosophy an science, our attitudes to insects and from his own experiences, the spiritual love of mountains. Drawing acutely on philosophers such as Rene Descartes, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Simone Weil and writers such as Isak Dinesen, George Orwell and J.M. Coetzee, The Philosopher's Dog is above all a book about our creatureliness and its place in the understanding of our humanity. An arresting book by a profoundly original thinker, The Philosopher's Dog is a triumph of both story telling and philo