“Success is not a triumph but a necessity… There's no mistaking it: You are only rewarded for the risks you are prepared to take. Once out of context, actions become indefinable. Any will power or ambition that is brought to bear is arbitrary. There are no external, urgent necessities to justify choices of profession, hobbies, or partners; no force or coercion to render life evident. Everything must come from within”

Though Rousseau might have delivered a bit of truth when he told us that humankind is “everywhere in chains,” we must take care not to be deceived about his orientation. He represents the height of the “Enlightened Man,” of philosophical naturalism. He is also, as a symptom of the latter, a deadbeat dad.

“How might an ethics and politics committed to the flourishing of significant otherness be learned from taking dog-human relationships seriously?”