Straw Dogs
Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals
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4.6 • 10 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A radical and thought-provoking philosophical challenge to the Western tradition's most cherished assumptions about human beings and their place in the world.
In the British bestseller Straw Dogs, John Gray sets out to question our deepest-held beliefs about what it means to be human. From Plato to Christianity, from the Enlightenment to Nietzsche and Marx, Gray argues that the Western tradition has been based on arrogant and erroneous beliefs about humankind and our destiny to transcend natural limits and conquer the Earth.
Philosophies such as liberalism and Marxism think of humans as a species whose fate is to rise above nature, but Gray explores how the world and human life look once this illusion is finally abandoned. The result is an exhilarating, sometimes disturbing book that leads the reader to question the very foundations of Western philosophy, politics, and sociology.
Hailed as "brilliant" by the Sunday Telegraph and named book of the year by Will Self in the New Statesman, Straw Dogs is a groundbreaking work that challenges our understanding of human nature and behavior within Western culture and society. "I read it once, I read it twice and took notes . . . I thought it that good," raved Self. Prepare to have your assumptions overturned and your mind expanded.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Humans think they are "free, conscious beings, when in truth they are deluded animals," writes London University economics professor Gray (Black Mass) in a series of brief and intriguing mini-essays. His themes include the similarities between hypnotism and financial markets and uncomfortable truths behind drug use and its prohibition. In a chapter called "Deception," Gray traces Humanism from Plato through Postmodernism. He critiques both science and religion: "Science can advance human knowledge, it cannot make humanity cherish truth. Like the Christians of former times, scientists are caught up in the web of power; they struggle for survival and success; their view of the world is a patchwork of conventional beliefs." At a certain point, it can be difficult to see where Gray's allegiances lie. He tears down institutions, especially consciousness, self, free will and morality, and questions our ability to solve the problems of overpopulation and overconsumption: "Only a breed of ex-humans can thrive in the world that unchecked human expansion has created." So what's left? Gray recommends a devaluation of progress, mastery, and immortality, and a return to contemplation and acceptance: "Other animals do not need a purpose in life. Can we not think of the aim of life as being simply to see?" This comforting question punctuates an otherwise profoundly disturbing meditation on humankind's real place in the world.
