2025 Scott Hawkins Lecture: The Word of Dog
The Word of Dog: What Our Canine Companions Can Teach Us About Living a Good Life
If you have spent any part of your life with a dog, you may have found certain questions popping, unbidden, into your mind: Is my dog living a fulfilled life? Is my dog a good dog? Does my dog love me? Addressing these questions compels you to confront not just your dog’s life but yours as well鈥晅o think about what fulfillment, and meaning, in life really is.
In this lecture, based on his book The Word of Dog, philosopher Mark Rowlands invites us to explore how dogs offer more than loyalty and affection—they offer a glimpse into a different, perhaps better, way of being. Through everyday moments and shared experiences, Rowlands reveals the faint but powerful lessons dogs hold for us about happiness, simplicity, and the ethical shape of a good life. While we may never achieve the kind of uncomplicated joy our dogs embody, this lecture challenges us to consider how much closer we might come simply by listening to what they show us.
About Dr. Mark Rowlands
is a professor and chair of philosophy at the University of Miami, where he specializes in philosophy of mind, ethics, moral psychology, and animal studies. The author of more than twenty books, his work has reached audiences around the world and across disciplines. His acclaimed memoir The Philosopher and the Wolf, a bestseller translated into over a dozen languages, explores the deep moral and existential lessons learned through his life with a wolfdog named Brenin.
His most recent book, The Word of Dog: What Our Canine Companions Can Teach Us About Living a Good Life, was featured at the 2025 National Book Festival and continues his exploration of how animals illuminate the nature of ethical living. In addition to his scholarly contributions, Rowlands has written for mainstream outlets, participated in international literary festivals, and appeared on major media platforms including NPR, BBC, and The Guardian. He is also a Founding Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.