28 Oct 2024

What can dogs teach us about loving life?

From Labour Day, 9:35 am on 28 October 2024

In his new book, The Happiness of Dogs: Why the Unexamined Life Is Most Worth Living, Welsh author and philosopher Mark Rowlands argues a dog's capacity for joy and meaning can help us better understand ourselves. 

The book weaves in work from the likes of Camus, Sisyphus, Plato and Socrates to examine a dog’s approach to live – with plenty of stories about Rowland's own dog, German Shepherd Shadow, thrown in for good measure.  

Mark Rowlands is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami and is perhaps best known for his best-seller, The Philosopher and the Wolf. The book covers a period in his life when he spent every moment alongside his wolf Brenin who couldn’t be left alone. Mark chats dogs, iguanas and more with Susana. 

A schnauzer sticking out its tongue in front of a yellow background

What would a book of philosophy contain if it were written by a dog? Photo: Unslpash