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. By training the wolf to take his lead, Rowlands taught Brenin how to be comfortable with all sorts of circumstances. 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. When he saw the soft, fluffy cubs and their imposing parents, he took one home that day. 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. That will serve as a starting point for this blog.“The wolf. We do all these things, but there’s very little that has value in itself. You work hard at University so you can get a good job and the good job is to get money… The purpose is outside them, and therefore the value lies outside the activity. When things have purposes, the purpose typically lies outside the activity – you go to school and work hard to get to University. … I think that’s an unfortunate way of thinking about the meaning of life.Ī better way of looking at our lives is not so much the meaning of our lives as the value of our lives.
Just as time is sort of an arrow flowing from the past to the future, so too the meaning of our lives is sort of built into things we’re aiming at somewhere down the line, projects we’re trying to achieve, goals we’re trying to fulfill. … This way of experiencing time is fundamental to human beings and brings with it a certain conception or outlook on the value of life. We experience time as a line, from the past through the present and into the future.
Rowlands makes several fascinating points, but one in particular has stuck with me: It is an interview with Mark Rowlands, author of “The philosopher and the wolf,” about the impact a long-term relationship with a wolf had on Rowlands’ outlook on life. Many things have contributed to this, including climate change, peak oil, maturing past age 50.īut what I want to focus on here are some words from a recent CBC radio program (that will be available on podcast until mid-December 2009). My worldview is being shaken, not stirred.
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