What Philosophy Is

by Havi Carel, David Gamez (Editor)

What do we mean when we talk about philosophy today? How does philosophy relate to science, to politics, to literature? What methods does the modern philosopher use, and how does philosophy progress? Does philosophy differ from place to place? What can philosophy do for us? And what can it not do? This book, with contributions from such exciting and influential contemporary philosophers as Simon Blackburn, Michael Friedman, Simon Critchley and Manuel DeLanda, offers us a fascinating picture of the character and methods of philosophy; its possibilities and its limitations. And of course, it is itself a piece of philosophy in action, not merely offering us answers but also prompting us to ask further questions and to philosophise for ourselves.

Genres: Philosophy

346 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 2004

Reviews

[Ci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book obviously targets at the learned crowd of philosophy, or at least someone who has read something work by Kant, Heidegger, Kafka, and some understanding of ontology (which I do not -- but I did look up the dictionary for the definition of this suspiciously disease-looking word).

This book is organized around the "is" in terms of politics (liberal and conservatism, definition of desert and responsibility, choice and chance), science, from different places, methods, literature (use the poetry of Wallace Stevens), therapy (with a good example in middle life crisis), and as a profession.