Philosophical Tales: Being an Alternative History Revealing the Characters, the Plots, and the Hidden Scenes That Make Up the True Story of

ISBN-13: 9781405140362 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 296 str.

Martin Cohen; Raul Gonzalez

Opis

Enlightening and entertaining, Philosophical Tales examines a few of the fascinating biographical details of history's greatest philosophers (alas, mostly men) and highlights their contributions to the field. By applying the true philosophical approach to philosophy itself, the text provides us with a refreshing 'alternative history' of philosophy.

• Opens up new philosophical debate by applying the true philosophical approach to philosophy itself


• Provides summaries of the most celebrated and philosophically interesting tales, their backgrounds, and assessments of the leading players
  
• Explores philosophers and schools of thought in one key philosophical text to supply a solid grounding in philosophical ideas and individuals
  
• Shakes some of the foundations of philosophy with the aim of encouraging the reinvigoration of philosophy itself

Recenzje

We need more stories in philosophy, and Martin Cohen aims to fill this lacuna with Philosophical Tales. [This book] is intended for a general audience interested in a satirical introduction to overlooked aspects of Western philosophy and the lives of the great philosophers.  Philosophical Tales does tell a number of interesting stories, and any instructor of philosophy will find it handy to have these stories available to enliven a class.  Instructors will also find it valuable to use these philosophical tales to raise a compelling question: is a philosophy only as good as the philosopher who proposes it? ( Teaching Philosophy, December 2009) 

"Great philosophers only become well known after their deaths. Indeed, to speak of contemporary celebrity philosophers is oxymoronic. Still, one can′t help wondering who amongst living philosophers will merit future Philosophical Tales. (The Philosopher, Autumn 2008)

Spis treści

Forward!.

How to Use this Book.

Philosophical Illustrations.

The Tales.

I The Ancients.

1 Socrates the Sorcerer (469 399 bce).

2 The Different Forms of Plato (ca. 427 347 bce).

3 Aristotle the Aristocrat (384 ca. 322 bce).

II More Ancients.

4 Lao Tzu Changes into Nothing (6th 5th c. bce).

5 Pythagoras Counts Up to Ten (ca. 570 495 bce).

6 Heraclitus Chooses the Dark Side of the River (ca. 5th c. bce).

7 Hypatia Holds Up Half of the Sky (ca. 370 415 ce).

III Medieval Philosophy.

8 Augustine the Hippocrite (354 430 ce).

9 St. Thomas Aquinas Disputes the Existence of God (1225 1274).

IV Modern Philosophy.

10 Descartes the Dilettante (1596 1650).

11 Hobbes Squares the Circle (1588 1679).

12 Spinoza Grinds Himself Away (1632 1677).

V Enlightened Philosophy.

13 John Locke Invents the Slave Trade (1632 1704).

14 The Many Faces of David Hume (1711 1776).

15 Rousseau the Rogue (1712 1778).

16 Immanuel Kant, the Chinaman of Königsburg (1724 1804).

VI The Idealists.

17 Gottfried Leibniz, the Thinking Machine (1646 1716).

18 Bishop Berkeley s Bermuda College (1685 1753).

19 Headmaster Hegel s Dangerous History Lesson (1770 1831).

20 Arthur Schopenhauer and the Little Old Lady (1788 1860).

VII The Romantics.

21 The Seduction of Søren Kierkegaard (1813 1855).

22 Mill s Poetical Turn (1806 1873).

23 Henry Thoreau and Life in the Shed (1817 1862).

24 Marx s Revolutionary Materialism (1818 1883).

VIII Recent Philosophy.

25 Russell Denotes Something (1872 1970).

26 The Ripping Yarn of Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 1951).

27 Heidegger s Tale (and the Nazis) (1889 1976).

28 Benjamin Lee Whorf and the Color Pinker (ca. 1900 1950).

29 Being Sartre and Not Definitely Not Being Beauvoir (1905 1980 and not 1908 1986).

30 Deconstructing Derrida (1930 2004).

Scholarly Appendix: Women in Philosophy, and Why There Aren t Many.

Key Sources and Further Reading.

Acknowledgments.

Index

O autorze

Martin Cohen is a teacher and writer specializing in philosophy, ethics and education, with a special interest in computing. His books include 101 Philosophy Problems (2nd edn., 2001), Political Philosophy (2001), 101 Ethical Dilemmas (2003), and Wittgenstein′s Beetle and Other Classic Thought Experiments (Blackwell, 2005). He has been editor of The Philosopher since 1995.

Blurb

Was Socrates really the saintly figure he became for later philosophy? Why is it doubtful that Descartes ever really uttered, I think, therefore I am ? And what did Sartre have against waiters, anyway? The history of philosophy is filled with great tales many of them fictions, misrepresentations, falsehoods, lies, and fibs. Or are they just misstatements, prevarications, and narratives not entirely based on fact? In the true spirit of a broad philosophical debate, Philosophical Tales dips a toe into the great sea of philosophy to collect, deconstruct, and relate many of history s great and not so great philosophical tales.

Enlightening and entertaining, Philosophical Tales examines a few of the fascinating biographical details of history s greatest philosophers (alas, mostly men) and highlights their contributions to the field. By applying the true philosophical approach to philosophy itself, the text provides us with a refreshing alternative history of philosophy.

But why should someone want to know that Kant rolled himself three times in his sheets each night before sleeping, that Schopenhauer pushed a poor old lady down the stairs, or that Marx spent as much time on beer and women as he did in the British Library? By examining the seeming trivialities of philosophers lives and skewering a few cherished myths along the way Philosophical Tales provides us with illuminating insights that will encourage a more active, critical way of thinking. Blaise Pascal may have put it best when he said, To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.