The Philosopher and the Wolf

by Mark Rowlands

Overview

The charming and poignant story of the relationship between a philosophy professor and his pet wolf.

Mark Rowlands was a young philosophy professor, rootless and searching for life’s greater meaning. Shortly after arriving at the University of Alabama, he noticed a classified ad in the local paper advertising wolf cubs for sale and decided he had to investigate, if only out of curiosity. It was love at first sight, and the bond that grew between philosopher and wolf reaffirms for us the incredible relationships that exist between man and animal. 

Mark welcomed his new companion, Brenin, into his home. More than just an exotic pet, Brenin exerted an immense influence on Rowlands both as a person, and, strangely enough, as a philosopher, leading him to reevaluate his attitude toward love, happiness, nature, death, and the true meaning of companionship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639361120
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	11/15/2021
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	470 KB

About the Author

Mark Rowlands is the author of The Philosopher and the Wolf, which was translated into fifteen languages. He is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

1 The Clearing 1

2 Brotherwolf 12

3 Distinctly Uncivilized 47

4 Beauty and the Beast 81

5 The Deceiver 111

6 The Pursuit of Happiness and Rabbits 136

7 A Season in Hell 163

8 Time's Arrow 184

9 The Religion of the Wolf 216

Index 245

Editorial Reviews

Animal lovers or not, Nietzsche-lovers or not, readers will admire how Rowlands, a philosophy professor at the University of Miami, interweaves essential philosophical questions with charming anecdotes of raising his pet wolf, Brenin. An alcoholic and self-described misanthrope with a penchant for fierce dogs and rough sports, Rowlands is eminently likable and even laugh-out-loud funny. He describes the isolation he eventually acquired in order to write and be with his (eventually three) dogs as follows: "There were girlfriends, but they came into my life and left it again with a regularity by which you could set your watch and an inevitability on which you could bet your bottom dollar." Of Brenin's escapades, he writes: "We discovered him... in flagrante delicto with a white German shepherd." But as funny as these passages are, they are a preamble for a meditation on happiness-for both man and animal. Rowlands's gruff humor, erudition, honest assessments of himself and the world around him, and his all-out affection for his "pack" result in a book that is surprisingly thoughtful and frequently poignant. (Apr.)

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Publishers Weekly

In this remarkable book, Rowlands (Sci-Phi: Philosophy from Socrates to Schwarzenegger) describes his life with Brenin, a wolf he purchased as a cub more than a decade ago, from Brenin's initial training and growth to maturity and death. Using this experience to make philosophical claims, Rowland argues that human beings have an apelike intelligence based on viewing the world, including other people, as a means to attain one's goals, which, when carried into practice, involves duplicity and cunning. Wolves don't see the world in this way, and Rowlands believes we can learn valuable lessons from their alternative style of intelligence. Rowlands also contends that accounts of evil often overstress motive. We too often ignore "epistemic evil," the failure to think about the consequences of what we do. Cruel experiments on animals, for example, stem from a refusal to think about the pain the animals undergo, not sadistic impulses toward them. Rowlands writes with a beautiful simplicity; a moving and insightful book, highly recommended for all collections.
—David Gordon

Library Journal

A unique human-animal friendship becomes the springboard and locus for exploring issues in metaphysics, ethics, existentialism, theodicy and human emotion. Through philosophical reflections combined with a personal narrative of the ten-plus year period he lived with a wolf named Brenin, Rowlands (Philosophy/Univ. of Miami, Body Language, 2006, etc.) constructs both a memoir and a philosophical journal. Each chapter is packed with personal anecdotes-for example, the author and friends picking up girls at rugby parties with Brenin's "help"-and with philosophical explorations ranging from notions of time, consciousness and freedom to ideas regarding malice, evil and death. Rowlands also investigates humankind's supposed obsession with feelings and sets out to redefine, or at least re-envision, such emotions as happiness, love and pleasure. His knowledge of the Western philosophical tradition is rich, ranging from Aristotle through Hobbes, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Wittgenstein and Sartre. The author's presentation of difficult philosophical concepts and of more general human experience is keen and readable, though his insights are often profoundly misanthropic. The narrative is alternately humorous and affecting, even self-deprecating at times, but the tone can also be arrogant, self-indulgent and self-aggrandizing. This creates an odd and largely duplicitous kind of irony, since Rowlands' primary impulse seems to be an attempt to reveal the depravity of human nature. Wolf and canine qualities are privileged throughout the text, albeit in compelling and convincing ways. The author learns from Brenin, for example, that "in happiness, pleasant and unpleasant aspects form an indissoluble whole."The wolf is the real teacher in this relationship. Supercilious at times and misanthropic throughout, but Rowlands offers an accessible, intriguing way to engage complex philosophical ideas. Agent: Liz Puttick/Elizabeth Puttick Literary Agency

Kirkus Reviews

Not everyone can blend wildlife lore and Wittgenstein in an entertaining manner, but Rowlands has no trouble. Delightful and eye-opening.

Connie Ogle - Miami Herald

A snarly misanthrope, Rowlands recovered his own humanity by loving a noble beast and (with a little help from Aristotle,
Descartes, and Jack Daniel's) learning to howl at the moon.

The Oprah Magazine O

One of the most intense reading experiences of my life. It is a profound and beautiful book.

Jeffrey Masson

Not everyone can blend wildlife lore and Wittgenstein in an entertaining manner, but Rowlands has no trouble. Delightful and eye-opening.

Miami Herald - Connie Ogle

This moving account will be recognized as a seminal work of philosophy that forces us to re-evaluate our view of the human animal.

John Gray

Not everyone can blend wildlife lore and Wittgenstein in an entertaining manner, but Rowlands has no trouble. Delightful and eye-opening.”— Connie Ogle

Miami Herald