The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death, and Happiness [Hardcover]

Mark Rowlands (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 2009

This fascinating book charts the relationship between Mark Rowlands, a rootless philosopher, and Brenin, his well-traveled wolf. After acquiring Brenin as a cub, it quickly became apparent that Breinin was never to be left alone, as the consequences to Mark’s house and its contents were dire. As a result, Brenin and Mark went everywhere together—from classroom lecture to Ireland, England, and France. More than just an exotic pet, Brenin exerted an immense influence on Rowlands as both a person, and, strangely enough, as a philosopher, leading him to re-evaluate his attitude to love, happiness, nature and death. By turns funny (what do you do when your wolf eats your air-conditioning unit?) and poignant, this life-affirming book will make you reappraise what it means to be human.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

“The wolf . . . is the clearing in the human soul. The wolf uncovers what is hidden.” A philosophy professor and author (Body Language, 2006), Rowlands grew up with dogs, big dogs, so when he saw an advertisement for wolf cubs, he went to have a look. When he saw the soft, fluffy cubs and their imposing parents, he took one home that day. Since his new pup, called Brenin, could not be at home alone without leaving utter destruction in his wake, Rowlands begain to take him everywhere. By training the wolf to take his lead, Rowlands taught Brenin how to be comfortable with all sorts of circumstances. Their remarkable closeness, both physical and mental, led to this book—a sort of autobiography mixed with wolf philosophy, human philosophy, and an exploration of the bonds between human and animal. Discussing what humans can learn from wolves, Rowlands elevates the run-of-the-mill memoir about life with an exotic pet into something more, a treatise on the meaning of true companionship. This one moves well beyond the Rascal mode. --Nancy Bent

Review

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. (O, The Oprah Magazine )

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, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus )

One of the most intense reading experiences of my life. It is a profound and beautiful book. (Jeffrey Masson, author of When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pegasus (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605980331
• ISBN-13: 978-1605980331
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Dogs & Wolves
  • #31 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Animal Care & Pets > Pet Loss
  • #44 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Philosophers

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a pleasure, March 31, 2009

By 

KP (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death, and Happiness (Hardcover)

There are few books which are just a pleasure to read on every page. This was one of them.

The author instructively weaves episodes from his life with his wolf, Brenin, around philosophical arguments he makes to illustrate his insightful points about life. The book obviously isn't hardcore philosophy writing; but even as a philosophy major I found myself intrigued by many of the thought-provoking points the author made. I particularly liked his thoughts about time, and his hypothesis that dogs and wolves experience time as moments, rather than as future-oriented like we do. It is also refreshing to read someone who critically challenges humanity's smug claim to superiority over all else in the universe.

Coincidentally, while I was in the middle of this book, my own dog of 8 years became suddenly ill and died a few days later. We were very close, but did not spend nearly enough time together (I was away at college most of the time). She might have been the most generous-hearted creature I've ever known. I identified very closely with the author's grief at loosing so magnanimous a friend as Brenin. It makes me wonder whether it is worth it to get to know creatures of this caliber when it hurts so much when they are gone.

I don't ever cry reading books (or watching movies). But I cried when Brenin died.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I really tried to dislike this book, August 5, 2009

By 

W. V. Buckley (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death, and Happiness (Kindle Edition)

Once I starting reading The Philosopher and the Wolf I was almost sure I wouldn't like it and would have to force myself to wade through it if I ever intended to get to the end. Having read a number of books on wolves, Rowlands' book challenged what I had come to believe: wolf-keeping should be left to the professionals; never allow a wolf off a leash in a city; wolf owners and their "pets" are tragedies waiting to happen, etc.

But a funny thing happened about midway through the book. Rowlands and Brenin won me over with their special bond. Oh sure, there were still times when Rowlands' actions made me roll my eyes and wonder 'what the hell were you thinking?' But beneath it all, this is a story about two very different souls who have much to teach each other - and us. Or maybe, as a middle-aged man and a bit of a misanthrope myself, I could just relate to Rowlands and his bond with Brenin which seems so close to my bond with my more conventional four-legged family.

I suppose I could still quibble about how I'd rather see wolves running free in their natural environment rather than turned into pets, but once I got over my prejudices it made for fascinating reading. I know of no other book where you can find an account of a wolf tearing up an apartment only a few lines away from philosophical musings on time and life's meaning. But being a misanthrope myself I feel obligated to criticize Rowlands for something; thus let me state unequivocally that his writing style can get a bit pedantic when he starts loading up his sentences with too many independent clauses.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, July 29, 2009

By 

Cosmoetica "cosmoeticadotcom" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death, and Happiness (Hardcover)

Rowlands dismisses mere happiness as an end unto itself, that purpose- especially self-purpose- has a greater place, and uses the example of Sisyphus to demonstrate, for even were the gods to avail Sisyphus of the balm of enjoying his futile task of rolling his stone up his hill, that joy would still not be a thing worthy, in and of itself. It would be an absurdity, and even a cruelty inflicted by the gods. Rowlands argues for measurable objective success, not subjective joy derived, as what determines if something is good or not. Then he gets to his rub, that once a purpose is chosen and completed, there is no further meaning, and this point is one that Rowlands has addressed in other venues, but never seems to have tackled fully. To me, the answer is clear: one must choose a purpose that perpetuates itself beyond yourself, and the only things that do this are things that serve not the self, but others: art, science, medicine, public service. Purpose, therefore, can only avoid Rowlands' logical meaningless dead end if it is directed away from the self. In this way, only in altruism can one selfishly gain a deeper sense of satisfaction. And this can only be achieved, as most things are, via personal volition, willing meaning from the ether, so to speak. Rowlands wraps up his book with the conclusion that one's own personal meaning thus comes from those few moments that one is at one's best. These are not those things that are `essentially' you, for stubbornness, stupidity, greed, duplicity or worse, can all be equally essential to a person, but the moments that are the de facto `reason' for one's existence, as determined via the formulations above, are those in which we are at our peak, in whatever sense of the term best suits one's fancy- when we are at our most generous, fittest, smartest, fastest, kindest, funniest, etc. As Rowlands puts it, in a pitch perfect diss of religion and blind faith:

Hope is the used-car salesman of human existence: so friendly, so plausible. But you cannot rely on him. What is most important in your life is the you that remains when your hope runs out. Time will take everything from us in the end. Everything we have acquired through talent, industry and luck will be taken from us. Time takes our strength, our desires, our goals, our projects, our future, our happiness and even our hope. Anything we can have, anything we can possess, time will take from us. But what time can never take from us is who we were in our best moments.

At the risk of sounding arrogant (but who cares?), I couldn't have said it better myself, and bravo! Mark Rowlands' book, The Philosopher And The Wolf, is not just a great read, a great memoir, nor even a great book. It is all of those things, but, if it can just get enough readers, I think it can take on a life of its own, and become a book of sustained and continued philosophic and personal influence. And I mean that of the positive sort, not the way The Prophet nor Jonathan Livingston Seagull are considered such. Rowlands' book is a masterful work that deserves to be seen as a classic that combines the highest and broadest of human achievement and art. It is didactic without being ponderous, self-deprecating without being precious, and far superior to all the bad self help books on life's meaning that clutter shelves because the latest Oprah-endorsed guru wants to scam unthinking zombies. I only hope an Oprah, or some other person of influence in the mass media, will stumble upon this book, and give it the larger audience that it deserves. In service to that directed away from the self goal, I urge readers of this review to buy the book, read the book, and thank me later. I can wait. Most others cannot.