Feline Philosophy

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 Gray's own wide reading to give fascinating examples of 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 the world - gives us a sense of our own animal nature.

John Gray's most recent book is the highly praised Seven Types of Atheism; his other books include Straw Dogs, Black Mass, The Soul of the Marionette and The Silence of Animals. He has kept feline companions for over thirty years.