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Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life Hardcover – November 24, 2020
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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.
- Print length128 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux
- Publication dateNovember 24, 2020
- Dimensions5.75 x 0.66 x 8.55 inches
- ISBN-100374154112
- ISBN-13978-0374154110
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"On the face of it, “Feline Philosophy” would seem like a departure for Gray ― a playful exploration of what cats might have to teach humans in our never-ending quest to understand ourselves. But the book, in true Gray fashion, suggests that this very quest may itself be doomed . . . Gray has always been a shrewd critic, nimbly dismantling high-minded schemes and their unintended consequences."
―Jennifer Szalai, New York Times
"A short but serious polemic attacking much of the western tradition of moral thought. It’s worth a read even if ― perhaps especially if ― you hate cats."
―Robert Armstrong, The Financial Times
"Academia puts scholars through the wringer. Few ― very few, in fact ― come out willing or even able to express complex ideas in ways appealing to non-academics. John Gray is one of those rare intellectuals . . . Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life is broadly appealing. Even more impressive, it has readers seriously consider radical ideas . . . Intertwining stories and facts about cats with philosophy, Gray invites serious reflection without telling readers how to reason or what to think . . . The real joy of Feline Philosophy comes from the very experience of reading it. The book does not attempt to 'prove' anything."
―Paul J. D’Ambrosio, Los Angeles Review of Books
"This new account of what cats can teach us about how to live corresponds closely with what the philosopher John Gray has been teaching us about how to live life for the past few decades. Although his previous works contain occasional hints about what he considers to be the good life, this is the most direct pounce at the subject. If, like me, you consider him to be one of the most important thinkers alive, you will be eager to know what he has to say. . . In our pious age his attack on the cheap solace of moral convictions is invigorating."
―James Marriott, The Times
"Cat lovers will enjoy the celebration of feline mythos, from the cat gods of ancient Egypt to purring contemporary domestics, while hardcore Gray fans will be reassured by the usual reference to immortality cults, Hobbes, gulags and so on."
―Charles Arrowsmith, The Washington Post
“The intellectual cat’s pyjamas . . . Gray’s is the perfect book for the estranging oddness of the pandemic.”
―Tim Adams, The Observer
“Engaging, amusing, perceptive and untimely, in the most admirable Nietzschean sense.”
―Mark Rowlands, New Statesman
"Curious and exploratory . . . Gray moves freely among writing modes, including several of the potted biographies that are common to popular works of philosophy. But he also tells stories of famous cats, dabbling in evolutionary history and showing a clear appreciation for his subject. Above all, the book is an ode to cats, and Gray gives the impression of having learned from them how to take pleasure where he finds it."
―Kirkus
“A wonderful mixture of flippancy and profundity, astringency and tenderness, wit and lament.”
―Jane O’Grady, The Telegraph
“Gray offers well-timed scratches at tender bits of the human psyche and sinks some sharp teeth into a few of our most cherished self-conceptions.”
―Ian Ground, Times Literary Supplement
“Silly, playful . . . as enlightening as it is delightful.”
―John Banville, Irish Times
“Magnificent.”
―Kathryn Hughes, Literary Review
"Gray's work makes a strong case that our species is incorrigibly irrational, and it raises questions about humanist beliefs that should be particularly important for those of us on the political left to consider...Gray pursues the deep interest in the nonhuman world that makes his critique of humanism so shard in fang and claw."
―Oliver Hall, Dangerous Minds
"For philosophers and philosophical cat lovers. Lots of endnotes for further discovery."
―Booklist
"The book does not attempt to 'prove' anything. Gray has survived the wringer and now expertly plays with his philosophical reflections."
―Paul J. D'Ambrosio, LA Review of Books
"The bulk of Gray's fantastic book does not concern cats . . . Gray focuses on humanity's insatiable (and predominantly fruitless) attempts at happiness and our inability to reckon with the illusion of morality. . . His ten feline commandments are ultimately for us."
―Derek Beres, Big Think
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition (November 24, 2020)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 128 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0374154112
- ISBN-13 : 978-0374154110
- Item Weight : 9.3 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.75 x 0.66 x 8.55 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #543,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #462 in Cat Care
- #494 in Social Philosophy
- #1,888 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

JOHN GRAY is Emeritus Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics. He is a regular contributor to the Guardian and the Times Literary Supplement and the author of over a dozen books, including Heresies and the bestselling Straw Dogs. False Dawn has been translated into sixteen languages.
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Other bites of catnip from the book:
🐾 “If cats could look back on their lives, might they wish they had never lived? It is hard to think so. Not making stories of their lives, they cannot think of them as tragic or wish they had never been born. They accept life as a gift. Humans are different. Unlike any other animal, they are ready to die for their beliefs. Monotheists and rationalists regard this as a mark of our superiority. It shows we live for the sake of ideas, not just instinctual satisfaction. But if humans are unique in dying for ideas, they are also alone in killing for them. Killing and dying for nonsensical ideas is how many human beings have made sense of their lives.”
🐾“The inner life of humans is episodic, fuzzy, disjointed and at times chaotic...We pass through our lives fragmented and disconnected, appearing and reappearing like ghosts, while cats that have no self are always themselves.”
🐾 "If you cannot learn to live a little more like a cat, return without regret to the human world of diversion…If you cannot find a faith that suits you, lose yourself in common life. The excitement and disappointments of romantic love, the pursuit of money and ambition, the charades of politics and the clamour of the news will soon banish any sense of emptiness.”
LOVED THIS ONE.
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023
Other bites of catnip from the book:
🐾 “If cats could look back on their lives, might they wish they had never lived? It is hard to think so. Not making stories of their lives, they cannot think of them as tragic or wish they had never been born. They accept life as a gift. Humans are different. Unlike any other animal, they are ready to die for their beliefs. Monotheists and rationalists regard this as a mark of our superiority. It shows we live for the sake of ideas, not just instinctual satisfaction. But if humans are unique in dying for ideas, they are also alone in killing for them. Killing and dying for nonsensical ideas is how many human beings have made sense of their lives.”
🐾“The inner life of humans is episodic, fuzzy, disjointed and at times chaotic...We pass through our lives fragmented and disconnected, appearing and reappearing like ghosts, while cats that have no self are always themselves.”
🐾 "If you cannot learn to live a little more like a cat, return without regret to the human world of diversion…If you cannot find a faith that suits you, lose yourself in common life. The excitement and disappointments of romantic love, the pursuit of money and ambition, the charades of politics and the clamour of the news will soon banish any sense of emptiness.”
LOVED THIS ONE.
I bought it from Audible and listened to it over the course of a couple of long drives. The reader, Simon Vance, was wonderful, like someone you would want to read a thoughtful story to you while you sit in an easy chair with a glass or brandy or port. When I finished listening I sat in my car for a long time, thinking over what I'd heard and feeling charmed, touched, and even moved, especially by the stories about Meo and Gattino. But I also felt uncertain. So I bought the hardcover for deeper reading.
I have read a lot of John Gray's philosophy, and I generally consider his ideas and opinions to be very reasonable, if not reassuring. In this book he tells us some things about cats and also about what he thinks we can learn from them about how to live. It is short, and well worth the time it takes to listen or to read. It was a pleasure.
I have liked cats, but have not considered myself a cat lover. I'm rethinking that.
So , what about the cats?Well there is no question in my mind that the author wallows in anthropomorphism here even if it denies it. He says things about cats that he couldn’t possibly know. You could argue that in a sense , Gray is saying things that don’t make any sense. Realistically we couldn’t emulate cats even if we wanted to. Which I think he knows. Gray argues that we have a nature and so do cats and these natures are manifestly different. Overall , I think Gray is saying we do best to follow our nature but that I’m not sure if that’s really a good idea. I should also add that I’m being plodding, literal minded and prosaic in the preceding sentences. This book is a wonderful soufflé. Consume it as such.
Although the emphasis is on ideas, as it should be, there are interesting insights into many philosophers' lives, especially their attitude towards cats. I have always admired Montaigne, and now I like him even more, whereas Descartes is now on my BANNED list. I wish I had not read that section!
The book is written in a way that provoked me pause frequently to think about how I feel about whatever subject is under consideration, whether I agree with the point of view being espoused or not. It made me muse I perhaps should be more like a cat.



