Quentin Skinner, at a colloquium on his new book in Cambridge, is reflecting on the wise view that dogs are servile, and that cats are free. - ThreadSky

chrisbrooke.bsky.social • 10 days ago

Quentin Skinner, at a colloquium on his new book in Cambridge, is reflecting on the wise view that dogs are servile, and that cats are free.

The school picnic that was invaded by my dog this afternoon begs to differ

He has not met a whippet, clearly

I was going to say greyhound, but whippet works too (greyhounds are more subtle about it, preferring to lull you into a false sense of security)

Cat software in dog hardware

Ha ha yes

Say what now…

while rabbits, the true sacred beasts, know that both freedom and fate are illusions

Fiver would like a word with you.

Next up a guest contribution to Alain de Botton's 'book of life'.

Dogs are our partners, senior partners

I wish I was as clever as that.

But Q (who is family) has neither a cat nor dog, so the next time I see him I'll ask him for the empirical evidence behind this statement

He didn't make any claim to *have* a cat or a dog--but he did refer to Rudyard Kipling's story, "The Cat Who Walks By Himself".

Not saying he made any *claims* I wanted to know about *empirical* evidence (as you know, he's a very precise man)

Freedom!!

Gosh!
What a refreshing, novel, and original take!

Always good for a NYT bestseller

Not sure I entirely remember that from his Machiavelli lectures but it’s been a few years now…

Also cats are full of virtú and always seize fortuna with gusto

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