Cat Philosophy. Cats and the Meaning of Life

Montagne wrote: «When I play with my cat, who knows, is she not rather amusing herself with me than I with her!» We have no evidence that people ever truly «domesticated» cats. Rather, at some point, cats realized that humans could be useful to them. In this book, John Gray attempts to grapple with the philosophical and moral problems of the very strange relationships between humans and these wonderful animals. Relying on centuries of philosophical heritage — from Montaigne to Schopenhauer, — he examines the relationships we have formed with this most unusual «pet». At the heart of the book is a deep sense of gratitude towards cats as perhaps the only species that helps us — in our deep loneliness in the world — to understand our own animal nature.