Neil Young and Philosophy

by Douglas L Berger (Editor), Douglas R. Anderson (Contributor), Michael Forest (Contributor)

Neil Young and Philosophy, edited by Douglas L. Berger, explores the meanings, importance, and philosophical dimensions of the music, career, and life of this prolific singer/songwriter over the past five decades. Neil Young’s music has touched on a broad range of cultural, political and personal issues, all of which have enormous ongoing relevance for our own times. In order to accommodate Young’s artistic breadth, contributions of scholars from a wide variety of fields-- American philosophy, ethics, American Indian philosophy, feminist philosophy, psychology, philosophy of mind and religious studies--are included in this collection. They examine everything from Young’s environmentalism, invocation of American Indian themes, images of women, and interpretations of human relationships to his confrontations with the music industry, his experiments with recording technologies, his approach to social change, and his methods of creativity. The book builds on the fundamental commitment of the Philosophy and Popular Culture series to see the artist as a philosopher.

206 pages, Hardcover

Published November 22, 2019

Reviews

[Corey Herlevsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with other books in this series, the essays in this volume vary widely in terms of both quality and accessibility. Further, some interact thoroughly with Neil Young while others seem to forget that he is the focus of the book. There is much good work here (e.g the chapter on feminism) but it is not for the casual Neil Young fan, nor is it a work of hagiography.