How to Talk to a Cat
Buber, Philosophy, and Dialogue with Unspeaking Things
Series: New Jewish Philosophy and Thought;
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Product details:
- Publisher Indiana University Press
- Date of Publication 31 March 2026
- ISBN 9780253075772
- Binding Paperback
- No. of pages172 pages
- Size 229x152 mm
- Weight 256 g
- Language English 700
Categories
Long description:
Guided by the philosophical insights of Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, How to Talk to a Cat explores the possibility of dialogue beyond the boundaries of spoken language. Original and effective in its interdisciplinary scope, this book ventures into the complexities of engaging in meaningful dialogue with creatures that do not use verbal communication, focusing on unspeaking beings we encounter in the domestic sphere: cats, babies, plants, and tools, among others.
Author Dustin N. Atlas distinguishes between talking to entities in a direct, second-person dialogue, talking about them in a third-person analytical mode, and focusing on how the former is possible in the absence of speech. While many discussions of Buber's philosophy have focused on the I-You relationship, How to Talk to a Cat emphasizes the dynamic processes of dialogue that take place over time where attention, rather than presence, is central. Raising questions about the nature of understanding, cohabitation, and the possibility of connection across different beings, Atlas encourages readers to look more closely at their present life, to reconsider the scope of dialogue and extend it beyond the human to include the silent relationships we share with the world around us.
Bringing Jewish thought into conversation with contemporary philosophy, ethology, animal studies, and critical theory, How to Talk to a Cat challenges prevailing assumptions about the limitations of dialogue and expands on the nature of understanding, cohabitation, and the possibility of connection across types of beings.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Dialogue and the Maintenance of Domestic Bubbles
1. Homes: Domesticity and Conflict
2. Animals: Communication and Language
3. Domestic Cats: Anxiety and Singularity
4. Plants: Dispersion and Surfaces
5. Babies: Noise and the Nursery
6. Sensuality: Tools, Crafts, Decoration
Conclusion: Death and Dialogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
