Philosodogs: Ponder this on your next walk

Ever wonder what your dog thinks of disjunctive syllogistic reasoning or whether he/she identifies as a deontologist or a consequentialist?In January, three Princeton philosophy graduate students, Robin Dembroff, Sukaina Hirji and Daniel Wodak, decided to crack these questions. They created Philosodogs, a blog dedicated to featuring the dogs of philosophers.Hirji, a fifth year grad student, said she was inspired by blogs run by philosophers– hot spots for philosophers to get into heated arguments."Some of us think that, at least some of the time, it would be good for philosophers to take themselves and their profession a bit less seriously," Hirji said.Hirji began soliciting dogs by reaching out to philosophers she previously knew, both graduates students and faculty. Now, she receives emails from philosophers who want to make their dogs famous. Many of them heard about Philosodogs after Justin Weinberg, who runs a popular philosophy website "Daily Nous," posted about the site, Hirji said.“Philosophers over-analyze everything,” Dembroff said. “So, naturally, we also over-analyze our dogs. This is fantastic because dogs are sufficiently complex and emotional that, when you add over-analysis, you end up with incredibly intricate and amusing speculations about dogs' inner-lives.”The writers ask a series of questions, often including: Which philosopher would your dog be (or read)? The combination of asking such a complex question and the fact that it's geared towards a dog, Dembroff said, "is recipe for amazing."One of the blog’s most well-known posts is an interview with Princeton Philosophy Professor Gideon Rosen about his fox terrier, Harvey.They begin by asking Rosen standard dog-owner questions, such as why Rosen decided to get a dog and the origins behind Harvey's name.Then they move onto the heavier questions.Hirji thinks that the blog has created a fun space for sometimes overly seriously philosophers to just talk about their dogs."I like to think the blog can serve as a helpful reminder for all of us that philosophers are just human beings, and philosophy is not the only thing that matters for our happiness or sense of self-worth," Hirji said.Visit philosodogs.weebly.com to read more.