Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life by John Gray - Book Review
Updated: Sep 11
As with all reviews on this website, our goal is not to provide a complete overview of the book; rather, it is to examine how the book relates to the meaning of life.
Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life was written by the philosopher (or anti-philosopher), John Gray, and was released in 2021.
The book, well, the book is about philosophy and cats. If cats could philosophize about life, nature, the universe, and everything in between, they’d probably choose instead to chase mice, or sleep, or stare at walls. This book dives into the meaning of life, what humans may think is the answer, and what their cat companions might think of their frivolous philosophizing. Living a good life, morality, religion, and more are all explored in this work. As the author notes on the idea that cats are amoral, the notion that how they live should be decided by any external standard would be laughable to them. Yet, with people, many believe that a life without morality is a life with little value.
Various philosophies are outlined in this work, including - Epicureanism, Stoicism, Buddhism, Spinoza, Nietzsche, and so many more. Aristotle, for example, believed everything in the universe has a telos or purpose, which is to realize its nature as the kind of thing it is. A good life was one in which this was achieved. He also believed that humans were the end goal of the universe. Clearly Aristotle had no notion of artificial intelligence and the singularity. Spinoza, on the other hand believed that human values couldn't have been dictated to us by God, because God is the universe. Oh, and there is no free will in a Spinoza universe, an idea that Stephen Hawking explored as well—detailed in this post.
But, getting back to the main theories outlined, we see Gray discusses the following:
Epicureanism — Pleasure is enough
Stoicism — Accept what you cannot control
Buddhism — Let go of the ego
Taoism — Living according to your nature
Nietzsche — Overcoming the human obsession with morality
Schopenhauer — Desire is the source of suffering
Christianity - God gives us purpose
Humanism — The belief that we can create meaning
Existentialism - Life has no inherit meaning
With all these great thinkers, and all this so-called combined wisdom, perhaps living a good life, being the best person you can be, fearing mortality, believing in a divine presence, etc., isn't necessary. The cat experiences the world, and for the cat, that is enough. Or as Gray summarizes it, If cats could understand the human search for meaning they would purr with delight at its absurdity. Life as the cat they happen to be is meaning enough for them. Humans, on the other hand, cannot help looking for meaning beyond their lives.
The author paints a story of how humans evolved over the years and out of desperation, created religions and philosophies to cope with death. Many things we do, including searching for the meaning of life, according to Gray, may simply be a way to divert our attention away from death. Cats, of course, don't spend their lives thinking about dying; they simply accept the fact when the time comes (though, like humans, it is not like they could do much about it).
Gray also tells a story about the Russian writer Varlam Shalamov, who survived the Arctic Gulag camps. Varlam talks about how the people there quickly lost all "humanity," and the only acts of kindness came from animals, e.g., the cat, which helped inmates catch fish. A bone-chilling story if there ever was one. Over the years, some reimaged gods as cats—like the Egyptians, some like Descartes tossed them out of windows only to demonstrate their screams of terror were only mechanical in nature, and still others like Montaigne played with with them, and wondered if instead they were not playing with him.
Some great quotes in the book:
If by eternity is understood not endless temporal duration but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present. - Wittgenstein
He did not search for meaning in the world he watched below. Cats show us that seeking after meaning is like the quest for happiness, a distraction. The meaning of life is a touch, a scent, which comes by chance and is gone before you know it. (the ending sentence in the book)
The inner life of humans is episodic, fuzzy, disjointed and at times chaotic. There is no self that is more or less self-aware, only a jumble of experiences that are more or less coherent. We pass through our lives fragmented and disconnected, appearing and reappearing like ghosts, while cats that have no self are always themselves.
Boredom is fear of being alone with yourself. Cats are happy being themselves, while humans try to be happy by escaping themselves.
The book ends with hints on how humans can live less awkwardly, that is, if a cat could give us advice, which they likely would have no desire to do so:
Never try to persuade human beings to be reasonable
It is foolish to complain that you do not have enough time
Do not look for meaning in suffering
It is better to be indifferent to others than to feel you have to love them
Forget about pursuing happiness, and you may find it
Life is not a story
Do not feat the dark, for much that is precious is found in the night
Sleep for the joy of sleeping
Beware anyone who offers to make you happy
If you cannot learn to live a little more like a cat, return without regret to the human world of diversion
Overall, this was an enlightening, quick, fun read. It is a book that I'll probably have to reread, as there is a lot of information and great stories to learn from. Though I didn't agree with all the ideas within, again, it was an enlightening and fun read.
We rate the book the following:
Overall - 8
Meaning of Life Relevance - 9
Uniqueness – 8
What do you think? Can cats tell us the meaning of life?
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