Polanowska-Sygulska Beata, John Gray’s Tree‑Part Philosophical Creed

John Gray’s books all too often generate in the reader a state of dissonance and even irritation. Yet at the same time they confront us with a rich and stimulating world of thoughts and ideas spun by a model of erudition which appears to have enough elan and courage to grapple with the contemporary world. Deploying his vast knowledge, incisiveness and panache, with each of his successive books Gray confronts his readers with an ice-cold but invigorating shower.

When, over a decade ago, his eccentric and provocative book Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals (2002) was first published, it instantly attracted the attention of a wide circle of readers. Reviews appeared in nearly all the most influential periodicals. Bryan Appleyard concluded that Straw Dogs was „a book of hallucinatory power that leaves all conventional wisdom in ruins”. Will Self described it as „a contemporary work of philosophy devoid of jargon, wholly accessible, and profoundly relevant to the rapidly...