The Philosopher and the Wolf

Photo copyright Ryan McGinley

The wolf ran alongside him, flowing along perfectly, and the man, lumbering and sweating next to him began to understand that the believed supremacy of human beings was all a strange fiction that we tell ourselves. How can we say that we are better than animals? When our running is stumbling and awkward, and the wolf’s is full of grace and beauty… That is the broad question that Mark Rowlands seeks to answer in The Philosopher and the Wolf, what is our basis for thinking we are superior?

As well as a funny and engrossing memoir of his time spent with a wolf that he raised, which you should read if you like animals, I think you should also read it if you like to ask questions and have your foundations shaken.

Rowlands makes an interesting case against his perception of the arrogance and sheer stupidity/(at times) evil of human beings. He starts simply. He divides the human character into ape and wolf.

The ape is who we are descended from. Apparently our brain development occurred from a complex social structure within apes, as well as the possibility in that structure of lies and deceit. He uses an example of a group of apes walking along a track, and one ape catches sight of a branch of ripe fruit that none of the other apes have spotted. She sits down on the path and pretends to groom herself, while the others walk past, so she can have the fruit to herself. So what we have there is a demonstration of forward thinking: The other apes will want this fruit, so that is predicting the feelings and desires of others. Deceit is demonstrated in the act of pretending and hiding for a selfish purpose. From this and other examples, the point is made that our entire species, all of our civilization, is built upon lies. This is what allowed our brains to develop to the extent they are at now.

This might sound very depressing, he also says that without that, we would not have literature, music, art, etc.

The other element is that of the wolf. The wolf, in nature and in our own selves, represents everything that the ape is not. Joy, loyalty, honesty, love.

I am not going to lie, at times it was a very gruelling read, as it forces you to explore things that you would rather, in your heart of hearts, leave untouched. But ultimately it makes you want to be kinder and more human, which is a great deal different to all the books out there that promise to make you happier, richer and more magnetic. Some of the most difficult reading are in the chapters where the author outlines the many examples of human cruelty and evil. You might think of calculated evil here as the real example of human capacity for destruction, but, and I agree with this, what is worse is evil by proxy, or unacknowledged evil. He gives the example of the famous Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures, which is very clearly outlined here, if you don’t know about it already. And it forced me to ask myself, would I do it? Would I electrocute someone for no reason? Even if someone wearing a uniform told me to? Even if it was just three months after the trial of Adolf Eichmann?

No, I sincerely believe I would not, and by saying that, I am not marking myself out as special or some kind of distributor of morality, but that is why I think books like this and others are important, because after reading them and opening some doors in your mind, you start to become the kind of person who would not, ever.

A wolf, in other words.