ABSTRACT
For over twenty years Belgian philosopher Vinciane Despret has been carving a unique path in the study of human knowledge about animals: its forms, history, limits, questions, future. She seeks transformations and metamorphoses: to transform and be transformed, to change ideas, behaviours, and habits, both her own and those of others. To view the world differently — and to take joy in its plurality — will be the sign of such an achievement. The blackbird taught Despret about the notion of importance, of being open and available to the world around her, of hearing the song, and of becoming transformed through an event as seemingly simple and routine as this. In every case, Despret transforms her thinking and actions through all of her engagements. By her own admission, she gets bored by the status quo, by the same overarching generalizations, by the erasure of individual idiosyncrasies, anecdotes, and knowledges.
