‘Happiness comes fully to dogs — free of heavy human reflection, pets merit respect’

Mark J Rowlands is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Miami. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke, he discusses the bonds between a pet — and its pet parent:
Human life is busy enough — why then do we go get pets of another species?
We’re all looking for some sort of connection with other beings. When one comes home from work after the usual tough day, and one’s dog, who’s naturally happy when exercised and receiving affection, greets you, that is where the outside world stops. Everything after that is purely ‘home’. We need people — and I think of dogs and other animals as people — in our lives who simply love us.

We’re increasingly seeing older terms like ‘pet owners’ changing to ‘pet parents’ now — what does this signify? Are humans finally getting over speciesism?

I doubt if it’s the end of speciesism but possibly a welcome sign on the road. When we talk about pets, what we often mean is a kind of familial relationship. Earlier, I had a pet wolf whom I thought of as a sort of brother. I think of my dog now more like my son. This family model signifies a certain kind of friendship. Aristotle distinguished three different grades of friendship. The first and the lowest grade is mutual benefit or a shared advantage in being friendly with someone. Then, there’s mutual enjoyment — you are friends with someone because you like their company. The third and highest grade of friendship is mutual respect.This is what people are gesturing towards when they change their language around pets. They are talking about friendship in the highest sense of involving respect. People are increasingly seeing how these animals deserve respect which wasn’t reflected in the language used for them earlier. That treated them as property — that’s a terrible model for thinking of any relationship with a sentient being. One’s relationship with a car is not the same as with one’s dog. This move acknowledges how animals merit our recognition and regard.


Why do you posit there is personhood among animals?

People often think of persons and human beings as the same thing. But there is a well-known definition of personhood associated with the philosopher John Locke who said, to exist, four different features should coalesce — rationality, consciousness, self-awareness and an awareness of others. When those come together, a person emerges. Animals have all these features, so they qualify as persons.


What happens in a moment of understanding that occurs between a human being and a domesticated animal?

These moments can take many different forms. There were times, for instance, when I went running with my wolf dog. Although I ran very often, I realised the wolf dog would always be far better at running than me — he would move with an elegance, an eco-nomy of movement, that I as a human could never replicate. That sparked respect towards him. Many people feel an aesthetic appreciation towards their animals. There are other connections too — people often see their own vulnerabilities mirrored in their pets, which deepens their empathy and understanding.


You write in ‘The Happiness of Dogs’ that humans could learn a great deal about joy from pets — can you elaborate?

When dogs are happy, their joyousness is much greater than ours — they have an absolutely fantastic capacity for happiness. One plausible view is that meaning in life which creates happiness emerges from what an individual truly is. I began thinking about this during daily walks with my dog Shadow in Miami. We walk along a canal — there are iguanas spread out along the bank and my dog thunders up and down every time, exiling the iguanas to the other side. During the night, they come back to this bank and the next morning, my dog repeats the same task all over again.


This reminded me of the myth of Sisyphus, a mortal who offended the gods, and was forced to roll a large boulder up a hill. When it got to the top, it always rolled back down and he had to start all over again. Sisyphus’ life is seen as the epitome of a meaningless existence because it has this repetitive activity in constant continuation.


However, watching my pet’s enthusiasm, I began to feel this was possibly the most meaningful part of his day — clearly, dogs find meaning in the most repetitive daily activities. Now, human lives are, to a large extent, seen as Sisyphean — we find our way to work in the morning, do various things there, go back home in the evening and awaken later, only to do the same thing the next day. Sisyphus’ life is seen as meaningless and our lives are viewed as largely Sisyphean — so, how do dogs find meaning in repetitive activity?
This is thanks to a kind of happiness which comes very easily to dogs — and is difficult for us. Humans underwent a development in our consciousness which is called ‘reflection’ — we constantly think about what we’re doing, we analyse our life and where this is going, we interrogate all our motives, inclinations and ties. Reflection has slowed us down — there is little space left in us where happiness can emerge as naturally, fully and unquestioningly as it does in a dog. My dog is utterly committed to his iguana-exile activities. He is thus a creature of commitment while we are troubled creatures of doubt — this is why the happiness and meaning that come so easily to our dogs are so hard for us to achieve.
Today, with global warming and ecology declining, how do you foresee the future for animals?

There are three kinds of crises we face now — and they are all connected. There is climate change along with the mass extinction of species, vanishing at several thousand times the background rate. The third challenge is pandemics. The primary reason for these is our encroachment of territory meant for animals — not only does this cause deforestation and emissions, habitat loss is the primary driver of the extinction crisis. It is also pushing the emergence of new diseases.

The main cause for this encroachment is farming. The principle form responsible is animal farming, either directly of livestock or to grow crops to feed the animals we consume. It is crucial we cut back on the amount of meat we eat — this is also a very effective measure to slow down climate change. The United Nations finds animal farming is causing 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Building the technologies to mitigate this will take time and a great deal of energy. The best solution is to grow trees — this needs land, which we can contribute by adopting plant-based diets, freeing territory for afforestation and animal life. Our treatment of animals is at the heart of these existential problems — solving them requires changing our attitude towards these beings.

Note: Rowlands’ German Shephard, Shadow, barked excitedly during the interview and jumped up often to gaze into the computer — conveying all your affection, dear reader, TE waved back at him

Plots with pets

● Writers have often celebrated humans and pets. In 1877, Anne Sewell wrote ‘Black Beauty’ about a horse who pulled London cabs and faced immense cruelty. Even as readers thought their hearts would break, Black Beauty finally finds a kind owner and retires — the story was of a horse but also humanity.


● In 1889, Jerome K. Jerome wrote his uproarious ‘Three Men in a Boat’ — Jerome, George and Harris start a boating holiday with Jerome’s feisty terrier Montmorency who puts his leg in jam, proudly brings home water-rats and battles a boiling kettle. Travellers still embark on this motley crew’s route.


● In 1956, the naturalist Gerald Durrell wrote ‘My Family and Other Animals’, describing pets — and kin — in Corfu. From the eccentric dogs Roger, Dodo, Widdle and Puke to musical pigeon Quasimodo, Durrell outlined pets brilliantly — including Ulysses, an owl who lived on a window pelmet, freely roaming, shouting ‘tywhoo’.