How to Think Like a Philosopher : Scholars, Dreamers and Sages Who Can Teach Us How to Live

In showing how the great philosophers of human history lived and thought – and what they thought about – Peter Cave provides an accessible and enjoyable introduction to thinking philosophically and how it can change our everyday lives. With a lightness of touch, he addresses questions such as: Is there anything 'out there' that gives meaning to our lives? Does reality tell us how we ought to live? What indeed is reality and what is appearance – and how can we tell the difference? This book paints vivid portraits of an assortment of inspiring thinkers: from Lao Tzu to Avicenna to Iris Murdoch; from Hannah Arendt to Socrates and Plato to Karl Marx; from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to Sartre to Samuel Beckett – and let us not forget Lewis Carroll for some thought-provoking fantasies and Ludwig Wittgenstein for the anguishes of a genius. As well as displaying optimists and pessimists, believers and non-believers, the book displays relevance to current affairs, from free speech to abortion to the treatment of animals to our leaders' moral character. In each brief chapter, Cave brings to life these often prescient, always compelling philosophical thinkers, showing how their ways of approaching the world grew out of their own lives and times and how we may make valuable use of their insights today. Now, more than ever, we need to understand how to live, and how to understand the world around us. This is the perfect guide. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Prologue 1: Lao Tzu: The Way to Tao 2: Sappho: Lover 3: Zeno of Elea: Tortoise Backer and Parmenidean Helper 4: Gadfly: aka ‘Socrates’ 5: Plato: Charioteer, Magnificent Footnote Inspirer : ‘Nobody Does It Better’ 6: Aristotle: Earth-Bound, Walking 7: Epicurus: Gardener, Curing the Soul, Ably Assisted by Lucretius 8: Avicenna: Flying Man, Unifier 9: Descartes: With Princess, With Queen 10: Spinoza: God-Intoxicated Atheist 11: Leibniz: Monad Man 12: Bishop Berkeley, ‘That Paradoxical Irishman’: Immaterialist, Tar-Water Advocate 13: David Hume: The Great Infidel or Le Bon David 14: Kant: Duty Calls, Categorically 15: Schopenhauer: Pessimism With Flute 16: John Stuart Mill: Utility Man, With Harriet, Soul-Mate 17: Søren Kierkegaard: Who? 18: Karl Marx: Hegelian, Freedom-Fighter 19: Lewis Carroll: Curiouser and Curiouser 20: Nietzsche: God-Slaying Jester, Trans-Valuer 21: Bertrand Russell: Radical, Aristocrat 22: G. E. Moore: Common-Sense Defender, Bloomsbury’s Sage 23: Heidegger: Hyphenater 24: Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialist, Novelist, French 25: Simone Weil: Refuser and Would-Be Rescuer 26: Simone de Beauvoir: Situated, Protester, Feminist 27: Ludwig Wittgenstein: Therapist 28: Hannah Arendt: Controversialist, Journalist? 29: Iris Murdoch: Attender 30: Samuel Beckett: Not I Epilogue Dates of the Philosophers: including some additional –those with noteworthy mentions Notes, References and Readings Acknowledgements In Memory Name Index Subhect Index