Feline Philosophy

Author: John Gray
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374718792
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 99

Book Description
The author of Straw Dogs, famous for his provocative critiques of scientific hubris and the delusions of progress and humanism, turns his attention to cats—and what they reveal about humans' torturous relationship to the world and to themselves. The history of philosophy has been a predictably tragic or comical succession of palliatives for human disquiet. Thinkers from Spinoza to Berdyaev have pursued the perennial questions of how to be happy, how to be good, how to be loved, and how to live in a world of change and loss. But perhaps we can learn more from cats--the animal that has most captured our imagination--than from the great thinkers of the world. In Feline Philosophy, the philosopher John Gray discovers in cats a way of living that is unburdened by anxiety and self-consciousness, showing how they embody answers to the big questions of love and attachment, mortality, morality, and the Self: Montaigne's house cat, whose un-examined life may have been the one worth living; Meo, the Vietnam War survivor with an unshakable capacity for "fearless joy"; and Colette's Saha, the feline heroine of her subversive short story "The Cat", a parable about the pitfalls of human jealousy. Exploring the nature of cats, and what we can learn from it, Gray offers a profound, thought-provoking meditation on the follies of human exceptionalism and our fundamentally vulnerable and lonely condition. He charts a path toward a life without illusions and delusions, revealing how we can endure both crisis and transformation, and adapt to a changed scene, as cats have always done.

Feline Philosophy

Author: John Gray
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241351154
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
'Why can't a human be more like a cat? That is the question threaded through this vivid patchwork of philosophy, fiction, history and memoir ... a wonderful mixture of flippancy and profundity, astringency and tenderness, wit and lament' Jane O'Grady, Daily Telegraph 'When I play with my cat, how do I know she is not passing time with me rather than I with her?' Montaigne There is no real evidence that humans ever 'domesticated' cats. Rather, it seems that at some point cats saw the potential value to themselves of humans. John Gray's wonderful new book is an attempt to get to grips with the philosophical and moral issues around the uniquely strange relationship between ourselves and these remarkable animals. Feline Philosophy draws on centuries of philosophy, from Montaigne to Schopenhauer, to explore the complex and intimate links that have defined how we react to and behave with this most unlikely 'pet'. At the heart of the book is a sense of gratitude towards cats as perhaps the species that more than any other - in the essential loneliness of our position in the world - gives us a sense of our own animal nature.

What Philosophy Can Tell You about Your Cat

Author: Steven D. Hales
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
ISBN: 0812696522
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
"Eighteen essays investigate philosophical aspects of the feline mind and the world of cats, illustrated by anecdotes about cats the authors have known"--Provided by publisher.

Feline Philosophy

Author: Walter Léon Hess
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cats
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description

Henri, le Chat Noir

Author: William Braden
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
ISBN: 1607745119
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 98

Book Description
This gift book is a collection of photos and quotes from Henri, the existential cat whose ennui has captivated people all over the world. Through his series of short films and interactions with an enthusiastic online community, Henri's contemplation and disillusion with the world has struck a chord with millions of fans. Now, finally, we have a collection of Henri's musings in his own words featuring never-before-seen photos and quotes. This book is a window into the tortured soul of the world's first feline philosopher.

The Silence of Animals

Author: John Gray
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374229171
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description
"An exploration of the failures of reason in human life and the enduring role of myth in science, politics, and morality"--

The Philosophy Book

Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0744099846
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 828

Book Description
Get to grips with the concepts that shaped the way we think about ethics, politics, and our place in the universe. Explaining the big ideas and groundbreaking theories of key philosophers clearly and simply, The Philosophy Book is the perfect one-stop guide to philosophy and the history of how we think. Untangling knotty theories and shedding light on abstract concepts, entries explore and explain each complex idea with easy-to-follow explanations and innovative visuals. Explore the history of philosophy, from ancient Greece and China to today, and find out how theories from over 2,000 years ago are still relevant to our modern lives. Follow the progression of human ideas and meet the world's most influential philosophers – from Plato and Confucius through René Descartes and Mary Wollstonecraft to Ludwig Wittgenstein and Judith Butler. Dive into this phenomenal philosophy book to discover: -An accessible guide to philosophy, covering every major school and movement throughout history. -The clear and detailed text explains the most groundbreaking philosophical concepts and theories ever devised, while bold illustrations and pull-out quotes bring each idea to life. -Fully revised and updated to cover any developments in the field over the last 5–10 years. -Biography and context boxes place each idea in its wider historical, cultural, and social context. Your Philosophical Questions, Simply Explained If you thought it was difficult to learn philosophy and its many concepts, The Philosophy Book presents the key ideas in a clear layout. Find out what philosophers thought about the nature of reality and the fundamental questions we ask ourselves: What is the meaning of life? What is the Universe made of? And work your way through the different branches of philosophy, such as metaphysics and ethics, from ancient and modern thinkers. The Big Ideas Series With millions of copies sold worldwide, The Philosophy Book is part of the award-winning Big Ideas series from DK. The series uses striking visuals and engaging writing, making big topics easy to understand.

The Immortalization Commission

Author: John Gray
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 0307375730
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263

Book Description
A great philosopher will change the way you think about your life. For most of human history, religion provided a clear explanation of life and death. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries new ideas — from psychiatry to evolution to Communist — seemed to suggest that our fate was now in our own hands. We would ourselves become God. This is the theme of a remarkable new book by one of the world's greatest lving philosophers. It is a brilliant and frightening look at the problems and opportunities of a world coming to grips with humankind's now solitary, unaided place in the universe. Gray takes two major examples: the belief that the science-backed Communism of the new USSR could reshape the planet, and the belief among a group of Edwardian intellectuals — popularized through mediums and automatic writing — that there was a non-religious form of life after death. Gray presents an extraordinary cast of philosophers, journalists, politicians, charlatans and mass murderers, all of whom felt driven by a specifically scientific and modern world view. He raises a host of fascinating questions about what it means to be human. The implications of Gray's book will haunt its readers for the rest of their lives.

The Trainable Cat

Author: John Bradshaw
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465096492
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
"I have to hand it to Bradshaw and Ellis: Once you suss out their basic cat-training philosophy, their methods totally work." -- Slate We often assume that cats can't be trained, and don't need to be. But in The Trainable Cat, bestselling anthrozoologist John Bradshaw and cat expert Sarah Ellis show that cats absolutely must be trained in order to enrich the bond between pet and owner. Full of training tips and exercises -- from introducing your cat to a new baby to helping them deal with visits to the vet -- The Trainable Cat is the essential cat bible for cat owners and lovers. "I doubt you'll find a more well-informed or scientific book on cats that better shows you how feline thinking works." -- Times (UK)

Lost Cat

Author: Caroline Paul
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408835576
Category : Cats
Languages : en
Pages : 173

Book Description
What do our pets do when they're not with us? Caroline Paul and Wendy MacNaughton used GPS, cat cameras, psychics, and the web to track the adventures of their beloved cat Tibia.