Philosophers Behaving Badly

An engaging and often hilarious survey of the far-from-fusty extra-curricular activities of some of philosophy’s finest practitioners Philosophers Behaving Badly examines the lives of eight great philosophers—Rousseau, whose views on education and the social order seem curiously at odds with his own outrageous life; Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, two giants of the 19th century whose words seem ever more relevant today; and five immensely influential philosophers of the 20th century, Russell, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Sartre, and Foucault.

The Philosopher's Beach Book invites you to relax and think; to wiggle your toes in the sand (literally or metaphorically) and reflect on the meaning of life. Have you ever stretched out on a holiday beach or taken a relaxed stroll in the evening, musing on your life 'back home' - your family, your work, your values - and wondered if it all makes sense? This book invites you to ask questions; to explore the assumptions of everyday life; to challenge your own values. You may go on holiday to see something new, but it also offers you a new perspective on the familiar. From the distance of your (literal or metaphorical) beach, now is the chance to give life a gentle, intellectual prod.

This book is the essential introduction to the history of Western thought. Covering all the key thinkers, both ancient and modern, and all the major branches of philosophy, it will give you new insights about the world we live in. Packed full of examples and clear explanations, and with key terms defined and explained, it is ideal whether you are student looking for a quick refresher or just want to explore this fascinating topic out of personal interest. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of psychology. FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.

Why did Rousseau fail—often so ridiculously or grotesquely—to live up to his own principles? In one of the most notorious cases of hypocrisy in intellectual history, this champion of the joys of domestic life immediately rid himself of each of his five children, placing them in an orphans' home. He advocated profound devotion to republican civic life, and yet he habitually dodged opportunities for political engagement. Finally, despite an elevated ethics of social duty, he had a pattern of turning against his most intimate friends, and ultimately fled humanity and civilization as such. In Hypocrisy and the Philosophical Intentions of Rousseau, Matthew D. Mendham is the first to systematically analyze Rousseau's normative philosophy and self-portrayals in view of the yawning gap between them. He challenges recent approaches to "the Jean-Jacques problem," which tend either to dismiss his life or to downgrade his principles. Engaging in a comprehensive and penetrating analysis of Rousseau's works, including commonly neglected texts like his untranslated letters, Mendham reveals a figure who urgently sought to reconcile his life to his most elevated principles throughout the period of his main normative writings. But after the revelation of the secret about his children, and his disastrous stay in England, Rousseau began to shrink from the ambitious philosophical life to which he had previously aspired, newly driven to mitigate culpability for his discarded children, to a new quietism regarding civic engagement, and to a collapse of his sense of social duty. This book provides a moral biography in view of Rousseau's most controversial behaviors, as well as a preamble to future discussions of the spirit of his thought, positing a development more fundamental than the recent paradigms have allowed for.

What kind of forces have shaped our modern world? Have they been political, economic, scientific, or perhaps even theological? The answer is that all of these forces have been at work, but they have all been the product of ideas, as our views on all of these topics have changed over time. Can ideas be more powerful than armies? Surprisingly, the answer is ‘yes’. History teaches us that nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Throughout history, rulers, generals and in our own day even stockbrokers and plutocrats have always imagined themselves to be in charge, with that last group even describing themselves as ‘masters of the universe’. In reality, however, all of these individuals have themselves been the products of ideas, owing their positions entirely to existing trends of thought. How this has come about and how it has delivered for us our present-day world are the themes explained in this book.

In Kevin MacDonald’s Metaphysical Failure, Jonas E. Alexis offers a thoroughly researched, nuanced and lucid analysis of Kevin MacDonald’s thought, in particular MacDonald’s belief in biological and philosophical Darwinism. It is an important book that fills a critical gap in the literature on the history of revolutionary movements and Darwinism both in the West and in Asia. It is also a study that adds many significant strands to the densely interwoven history of ideas such as Malthusianism and Eugenics. Alexis’s book engages debates in the history of ideas—going back to Madison Grant and beyond—and the history of Darwinism. It challenges many of the life-long prevailing assumptions about identity politics and produces a powerful critique of how “scientific” theories have been misused to uphold misguided and faulty categorizations. Powerfully reasoned, and backed with a startling array of documented studies, Kevin MacDonald’s Metaphysical Failure presents an in-depth look at key beliefs behind many mistaken and consequently destructive actions taken by numerous writers and thinkers, particularly Darwin’s ardent enthusiasts and devoted disciples. The book presents eye-opening insights into the historical development of Darwin’s ideological project and how that project ended up crippling Darwin’s intellectual children—from Richard Dawkins, Francis Crick, James Watson, Daniel Dennett, Ernst Mayr, and E. O. Wilson to Kevin MacDonald, Richard Spencer, David Duke, and Jared Taylor.

The author retraces the journeys of forefront intellectuals from Epicurus and Gandhi to Thoreau and Beauvoir to illuminate how their practical and spiritual lessons can be applied in today's unsettled world. Eric Weiner combines his twin passions for philosophy and global travel in a pilgrimage that uncovers surprising life lessons from philosophers around the world, from Marcus Aurelius to Arthur Schopenhauer, Confucius to Montaigne. Traveling by train (the most thoughtful mode of transport) he traversed thousands of miles, making stops in Athens, Delhi, Massachusetts, Coney Island, Frankfurt, and points in between, to recapture philosophy's original purpose: teaching us how to lead wiser, more meaningful lives. From Socrates and ancient Athens to Simone de Beauvoir and twentieth century Paris, Weiner's chosen places and thinkers provide important signposts as we navigate today's chaotic times.

Through the works of key figures in ethics since modernity this book charts a shift from dominant fixated, objective moral systems and the dependence on moral authorities such as God, nature and state to universal, formal, fallible, individualistic and/or vulnerable moral systems that ensue from the modern subject's exercise of reason and freedom.