The philosopher's dog : friendships with animals

119 Pages·2004·1.223 MB·English

by  Raimond Gaita

Praise for Raimond Gaita
ROMULUS, MY FATHER
‘Extraordinary and beautiful…a profound meditation on love and death, madness and
truth, judgement and compassion.’
RICHARD FLANAGAN, SUNDAY AGE
‘The moving intensity of the narrative makes Romulus, My Father a triumph.’
FRANKFURT ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG
‘consistently astounding…a memoir of absolutely compelling tragi-comic quality.’
PETER CRAVEN, AUSTRALIAN
‘A marvellous book…an original meditation on life itself: character, conversation,
friendship, morality and the terror of insanity.’
SPECTATOR
‘A gift to a man, to his vision of life…a story marked by constant wonder and the
acceptance of life.’
LA REALIDAD
‘A rare and passionate book, the like of which has seldom been seen in Australia.’
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
‘Very moving and well-written, expressive if a moral vision which is both true in itself
and now sorely neglected…a book that deserves to be widely read.’
ROGER SCRUTON
‘A story with the simplicity of myth and the force of tragedy…I know of no other book
where the love between father and son has been more beautifully expressed.’
ROBERT MANNE, AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW
A COMMON HUMANITY: THINKING ABOUT LOVE & TRUTH & JUSTICE
‘Raimond Gaita’s insights are original and his prose as eloquent as it is affecting.’
THE ECONOMIST, BOOKS OF THE YEAR
‘Gaita’s genius…is his ability to weigh the soul on a scale, and to show how goodness
and justice might yet prevail.’
THE SCOTSMAN
‘Philosophy at its most profound.’
JEAN CURTHOYS, AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW
‘On every page of Gaita’s work—all his work—one hears a distinctive, unrelentingly
serious and powerful voice. In Romulus its tone is lyrical and affecting, in Good and Evil
philosophical and exacting… A Common Humanity is a work of both the writer and
philosopher. It is a rare and distinguished contribution to our public life.’
MARTIN KRYGIER, AUSTRALIAN’S REVIEW OF BOOKS
‘As eloquent as it is affecting.’
ECONOMIST, BOOKS OF THE YEAR, 2000
‘Profound and original…his humane and wise book offers a view on life which deserves
to be taken seriously.’
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
‘A wise and beautifully written book…a wonderful example of how philosophy can still
speak without any condescension.’
SIMON CRITCHLEY
‘…a striking and revelatory read, and I warmly recommend it.’
MIND
‘The trenchant beauty of the discussion, the courage and independence of the mind at
work, are a magnificent accomplishment.’
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS
‘Gaita’s gait bedazzles, In both writing and content, there appear sensitivity, significance
and feeling…Wittgenstein advises “Take your time” I advise such with the issues of this
book.’
THE PHILOSOPHER’S MAGAZINE
GOOD AND EVIL: AN ABSOLUTE CONCEPTION
‘I would not have believed that a work in moral philosophy could, in our present age,
have such depth, brilliance and force.’
NORMAN MALCOLM
‘Outstanding.’
ALASDAIR MACINTYRE
‘A superb, richly textured discussion which engages directly with real people and their
deeply serious moral concerns.’
TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT
‘Genuinely moving…A wonderful book.’
STANLEY HAUERWAS
‘Profound…splendidly original and insightful discussions.’
R.A.DUFF, PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS
‘A Socratic attempt to call moral philosophy back to seriousness…one of the deepest
works on ethics I have read.’
LARS HERTZBERG, PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS
THE PHILOSOPHER’S DOG
‘In everything that Rai Gaita writes we sense a generous heart at work, as well as a lucid
intelligence, The Philosopher’s Dog is a book to give to the kind of person who asks
what philosophy is for.’
J.M.COETZEE
‘Rai Gaita is a dog-lover, a philosopher and a gifted, sensitive writer. In this immensely
readable and enjoyable book, he mixes the personal with the philosophical and the
anecdotal with the profound to produce a series of illuminating reflections on what it
means to be a creature and, more importantly, what it means to be fully human. It is a
great pleasure to read and should not be missed by anyone who still hopes to find in the
works of philosophers things that are both interesting and important.’
RAY MONK
RAIMOND GAITA
The philosopher’s dog

LONDON AND NEW YORK
For Cora Diamond
First published in 2002
by The Text Publishing Company, Australia
Hardback edition first published 2003
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition first published 2004
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or
Routledge's collection of thousand of eBook please go
to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2002, 2003, 2004 Raimond Gaita
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0-203-50869-6 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-57456-7 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0 415 33287 7 (Print Edition)
Photograph of the author with Gypsy on page vii by Konrad Winkler

‘The difference between human beings and animals is not to be discovered by studies of
Washoe or the activities of dolphins. It is not that sort of study or ethology or
evolutionary theory that is going to tell us the difference between us and animals: the
difference is, as I have suggested, a central concept for human life and is more an object
of contemplation than observation (though that might be misunderstood; I am not
suggesting it is a matter of intuition). One source of confusion here is that we fail to
distinguish between ‘the difference between animals and people’ and ‘the differences
between animals and people’; the same sort of confusion occurs in discussions of the
relationship of men and women. In both cases people appeal to scientific evidence to
show that ‘the difference’ is not as deep as we think; but all that such evidence can show,
or show directly, is that the differences are less sharp than we think. In the case of the
difference between animals and people, it is clear that we form the idea of this difference,
create the concept of the difference, knowing perfectly well the overwhelmingly obvious
similarities’. Cora Diamond
‘God went forth to create the world, and he took his dog with him.’
Kato Indian creation story
Contents

Introduction 1
Friends and Companions 4
For a Dog? 12
The Philosopher’s Dog 21
Sitting on Her Mat Gazing Out to Sea 28
Gypsy Is Old Now 34
The Honour of Corpses 44
The Realm of Meaning 49
Stories, Philosophy and Science 55
‘Poor Living Thing’ 61
Sacred Places 73
Arrogance? 82
Creatureliness 88
Human Beings and Animals 101