Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers Philosophy
This month's Amazon.com Delivers Philosophy starts off rather calmly, with philosophical essays by Iris Murdoch, a call to return to the thinking of the great philosophers, and a new biography of Spinoza, but after that things heat up as we reach the extremes of the philosophical avant-garde. "Existentialists and Mystics" by Iris Murdoch http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140264922/entertainmentsit Iris Murdoch was best known as a novelist, but she also trained as a philosopher at both Cambridge and Oxford (where she taught the subject for several years) and continued to write philosophical essays throughout her career. This collection contains Murdoch's most careful thinking and writing on the relationship between art and philosophy and about the search for meaning in literature and life. Along the way she discusses T.S. Eliot, Dante Alighieri, Matthew Arnold, and many other major literary figures--as well as explaining to philosopher Bryan Magee during an interview why philosophy is not literature: "I am tempted to say that there is an ideal philosophical style which has a special unambiguous plainness and hardness about it, an austere, unselfish, candid style. A philosopher must try to explain exactly what he means and avoid rhetoric and idle decoration." For cognitive power, a sweeping overview of Western thought and art, and a respectful engagement with the reader, "Existentialists and Mystics" belongs on the shelf beside the collected works of Kenneth Burke. "If Aristotle Ran General Motors" by Tom Morris http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805052534/entertainmentsit Philosophy purists take note: yes, this is a business self-help book. But Tom Morris has plenty of philosophical street credibility: after getting his Ph.D. from Yale, he taught for 15 years at the University of Notre Dame (where stunts like bringing the ND marching band to class for an impromptu "pep rally" before a big test made him one of the most popular professors on campus). And Morris isn't dumbing down his message for the corporate culture. Rather, he's genuinely interested in fostering a workplace environment where one can seriously think about truth, beauty, goodness, and unity. "If we let the great philosophers guide our thinking," he says, "and if we then begin to become philosophers ourselves, we put ourselves in the very best position to move towards genuine excellence, true prosperity, and deeply satisfying success in our businesses, our families, and our lives. Why should we settle for anything less?" Why indeed? "Spinoza: A Life" by Steven Nadler http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521552109/entertainmentsit Remarkably, given his importance in Western philosophy, there has never been a substantial English-language biography of Baruch (or, as he was later known, Benedictus) Spinoza (1632-1677) until now. "Spinoza: A Life" makes up for the lack, delving into the archival records of 17th-century Amsterdam to flesh out Spinoza's world in rich detail. The subject himself doesn't even appear until the third chapter; Nadler first provides historical background on the treatment of Jews during the Spanish Inquisition and their eventual resettlement in the Dutch Republic. Later chapters explore Spinoza's relationship to the Jewish community and the possible reasons for his excommunication in 1656, as well as the emergence of his philosophical system. Academically rigorous without becoming ponderous, "Spinoza: A Life" is splendid both as biography and history, and a worthy introduction to Spinoza's philosophy. "Guy Debord: Revolutionary" by Len Bracken http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/092291544X/entertainmentsit Guy Debord was one of the founders of the situationist movement of the 1960s; his "Society of the Spectacle" has become an indispensable text for anyone seeking to understand the pop culture of global capitalism. But despite the fame and notoriety he accrued during the Paris street revolution of 1968, he did his best to escape the burden of celebrity, refusing all interviews, publishing very little, and spending most of his time in bars. ("I wrote much less than most people who write," he once conceded, "but I drank much more than most people who drink.") Len Bracken copes with the dearth of biographical information by focusing primarily on Debord's writings and "anti-films" and his relationship to France's political and philosophical avant-garde. Numerous photographs identify key figures for the reader and give a sense of the turmoil of the '68 riots. This is an interesting historical supplement to, but not a substitute for, reading Debord's work. Read the original: "The Society of the Spectacle" by Guy Debord http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0942299795/entertainmentsit "T.A.Z." by Hakim Bey http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0936756764/entertainmentsit "Chaos never died," declares this collection of post- postmodern "broadsheets of ontological anarchism." "They lied to you, sold you ideas of good and evil, gave you distrust of your body and shame for your prophethood of chaos, invented words of disgust for your molecular love, mesmerized you with inattention, bored you with civilization and all its usurious emotions." Hakim Bey's calls for a response rooted in "poetic terrorism" are definitely not for the philosophically staid or squeamish, advocating "black magic as revolutionary action" and "a congress of weird religions." But his elaboration of the idea of the Temporary Autonomous Zone, intentional communities that live outside the law, offers a captivating notion of hedonist radicalism for the eve of the 21st century. "T.A.Z." is provocative, at times obscene, but it also proves that the avant-garde can entertain as well as challenge. ****** You'll find more great books, articles, and interviews in Amazon.com's Philosophy section at Books Home Page
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