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Cases and Maps: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy
A dying man hires the services of a cannibal; a customs official insults a world-class sculptor; a farmer complains that low-flying bombers are killing his chickens; two rock groups claim the same name; a monkey takes a selfie; and a minister with mail-order credentials performs a wedding. The resulting court cases (and sixteen others) serve to introduce a wide range of philosophical notions (such as libertarianism, speciesism, and speech acts).
Next, a subway employee draws a revolutionary map; a mountain loses its name; a strange cineplex puts people in each others' movies; the art museums of Madrid loom over neighboring buildings; a nautical chart guides seamen into a Connecticut port; and Jerusalem stands "due north" of the Mediterranean. These maps (twenty-three in all), whether real or imaginary, introduce yet other philosophical notions (such as pragmatism, universals, and paradigms). Along the way in both sections, we meet a wide range of thinkers, from Plato to Aquinas to Hume to Kant to Searle.
The explanations and discussion questions are written from a Christian perspective, inviting believers to join in the perennial dialogue with the conviction that if you don't have philosophical and theological positions sorted out, then they will have you.
Next, a subway employee draws a revolutionary map; a mountain loses its name; a strange cineplex puts people in each others' movies; the art museums of Madrid loom over neighboring buildings; a nautical chart guides seamen into a Connecticut port; and Jerusalem stands "due north" of the Mediterranean. These maps (twenty-three in all), whether real or imaginary, introduce yet other philosophical notions (such as pragmatism, universals, and paradigms). Along the way in both sections, we meet a wide range of thinkers, from Plato to Aquinas to Hume to Kant to Searle.
The explanations and discussion questions are written from a Christian perspective, inviting believers to join in the perennial dialogue with the conviction that if you don't have philosophical and theological positions sorted out, then they will have you.
226 pages, Paperback
Published July 12, 2019
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October 25, 2019
Overview:
This book is intended to be a Christian introduction to philosophy via (legal) cases and maps (of actual and non-actual things like coal mines and treasure maps).
The book is structured to first introduce 22 legal cases and then 23 maps. The purpose behind presenting philosophical issues through a series of legal cases is that "it will give you a greater appreciation for the life-importance of philosophy" (1). The purpose behind the maps is to use object lessons or thought experiments to help "give us the lay of the land" (107) and highlight implications of philosophical ideas.
My thoughts:
The idea behind this book is fantastic: by introducing philosophy via a series of legal cases and object lessons/analogies/thought experiments the reader will learn that philosophy has practical, real-life application and also have modeled for them the practice of look for philosophical issues and illumination in their daily lives.
Largely, the book succeeds in accomplishing this goal and I would consider it as a supplementary text in a philosophy course. But I do have a couple of complaints.
Perhaps my smallest complaint is that none of the "chapters" (the individual cases and maps) are numbered in the main text or in the table of contents. When flipping through to find something it's just easier to remember "19" and orient myself as I see that I've just flipped past "16" than it is to remember "U.S. v. Causby" and orient myself having just flipped by "Repouille v. U.S.".
A much bigger complaint is related to this: nowhere does the book indicate what philosophical issue is concerned with the what specific case or map. On the one hand, I can imagine two very good reasons why the author didn't do this. First, perhaps it is so that the student/reader will have to practice their own philosophical analysis to discern what philosophical issues are at play in a specific case (though the first few paragraphs of each case and map do indicate this). Second, perhaps it is that (almost/all?) every case touches on several issues or on a single issue at several different levels. For instance, the case of "The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson" touches on epistemology at the broadest level, but also more narrowly on degrees of certainty and also "meta" considerations of the judicial system (political philosophy). Not delimiting for the student what philosophical issues are at play here may make the chapters more valuable as an opportunity for practicing the dialogic method.
But this is why my complaint is not specifically that the chapter headings themselves or the table of content do not indicate what issues are at play--my complaint is that the book nowhere does this. In other words, it would still be extremely helpful to have an answer key at the back of the book which indicates what topic(s) are most relevant to what case or map. If the book is going to be used in a classroom setting, it is within the book's interest to make utilizing it for specific topics as easy as possible for the teacher. Without this it is very difficult to come back to the book at some later point and try to remember, for instance, what map had something to say about postmodernism! (That would be The Ass/Nusra/ISIS/Kurd Map, by the way.)
Speaking of The Ass/Nusra/ISIS/Kurd Map, this leads to a minor complaint. A few of the the maps felt shoehorned. That is, the map as a jumping off point for a discussion about 'x' felt like it didn't actually add anything to the issue or illuminate it in any particular way. I say this is a minor complaint because it was only few maps while, on the whole, the maps did seem to be well-utilized and some of them (e.g., the 1:1 map) I thought were especially fruitful as a point of entry.
The question of the utility of some of the maps leads me to a question of the utility of the sketches in the cases section. All of the illustrations are well done, but I'm not sure that the illustrations add anything to the discussion per se in the way that the maps do.
The final and smallest complaint is the number of typos. Typos occur in virtually every book (and in this review, no doubt) and I usually wouldn't even bother mentioning them. I mention them here because after noticing the normal one or two I then noticed a couple in short succession (pages 160 and 165). This made them stand out more to my mind. When flipping through the book to refresh my memory for this review I noticed another (107).
Summary -
The idea behind this book great, the execution is good. Due to the limited scope of the book I don't think it could be used as a primary or sole introduction to philosophy. As a supplement, it puts flesh onto philosophy. One aspect of good teaching, according to Paul Kirschner, is modeling: show a student how you go about solving a problem or approaching an issue. In a sense, this book models the act of viewing ordinary things and events from a philosophical point of view. Could be utilized not just in a general introduction but also in an ethics course.
This book is intended to be a Christian introduction to philosophy via (legal) cases and maps (of actual and non-actual things like coal mines and treasure maps).
The book is structured to first introduce 22 legal cases and then 23 maps. The purpose behind presenting philosophical issues through a series of legal cases is that "it will give you a greater appreciation for the life-importance of philosophy" (1). The purpose behind the maps is to use object lessons or thought experiments to help "give us the lay of the land" (107) and highlight implications of philosophical ideas.
My thoughts:
The idea behind this book is fantastic: by introducing philosophy via a series of legal cases and object lessons/analogies/thought experiments the reader will learn that philosophy has practical, real-life application and also have modeled for them the practice of look for philosophical issues and illumination in their daily lives.
Largely, the book succeeds in accomplishing this goal and I would consider it as a supplementary text in a philosophy course. But I do have a couple of complaints.
Perhaps my smallest complaint is that none of the "chapters" (the individual cases and maps) are numbered in the main text or in the table of contents. When flipping through to find something it's just easier to remember "19" and orient myself as I see that I've just flipped past "16" than it is to remember "U.S. v. Causby" and orient myself having just flipped by "Repouille v. U.S.".
A much bigger complaint is related to this: nowhere does the book indicate what philosophical issue is concerned with the what specific case or map. On the one hand, I can imagine two very good reasons why the author didn't do this. First, perhaps it is so that the student/reader will have to practice their own philosophical analysis to discern what philosophical issues are at play in a specific case (though the first few paragraphs of each case and map do indicate this). Second, perhaps it is that (almost/all?) every case touches on several issues or on a single issue at several different levels. For instance, the case of "The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson" touches on epistemology at the broadest level, but also more narrowly on degrees of certainty and also "meta" considerations of the judicial system (political philosophy). Not delimiting for the student what philosophical issues are at play here may make the chapters more valuable as an opportunity for practicing the dialogic method.
But this is why my complaint is not specifically that the chapter headings themselves or the table of content do not indicate what issues are at play--my complaint is that the book nowhere does this. In other words, it would still be extremely helpful to have an answer key at the back of the book which indicates what topic(s) are most relevant to what case or map. If the book is going to be used in a classroom setting, it is within the book's interest to make utilizing it for specific topics as easy as possible for the teacher. Without this it is very difficult to come back to the book at some later point and try to remember, for instance, what map had something to say about postmodernism! (That would be The Ass/Nusra/ISIS/Kurd Map, by the way.)
Speaking of The Ass/Nusra/ISIS/Kurd Map, this leads to a minor complaint. A few of the the maps felt shoehorned. That is, the map as a jumping off point for a discussion about 'x' felt like it didn't actually add anything to the issue or illuminate it in any particular way. I say this is a minor complaint because it was only few maps while, on the whole, the maps did seem to be well-utilized and some of them (e.g., the 1:1 map) I thought were especially fruitful as a point of entry.
The question of the utility of some of the maps leads me to a question of the utility of the sketches in the cases section. All of the illustrations are well done, but I'm not sure that the illustrations add anything to the discussion per se in the way that the maps do.
The final and smallest complaint is the number of typos. Typos occur in virtually every book (and in this review, no doubt) and I usually wouldn't even bother mentioning them. I mention them here because after noticing the normal one or two I then noticed a couple in short succession (pages 160 and 165). This made them stand out more to my mind. When flipping through the book to refresh my memory for this review I noticed another (107).
Summary -
The idea behind this book great, the execution is good. Due to the limited scope of the book I don't think it could be used as a primary or sole introduction to philosophy. As a supplement, it puts flesh onto philosophy. One aspect of good teaching, according to Paul Kirschner, is modeling: show a student how you go about solving a problem or approaching an issue. In a sense, this book models the act of viewing ordinary things and events from a philosophical point of view. Could be utilized not just in a general introduction but also in an ethics course.
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