A philosophical work that addresses the validity of the question: What is it for the human being to be an animal, and for this animal to be a spirit? Braine argues that the perspectives of materialism and dualism are different casts of the same flawed mold and offers a holistic alternative. Braine further argues that perception is inseparable from behavior and that the human propensity to produce language separates us from other animals. Culminating in a discussion of the meaning of death, this is rich and passionate philosophical argument for the human being as animal and soul.