The Book of Dead Philosophers: Philosophy Forums

The Book of Dead Philosophers

Rypcord
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Posted 10/29/09 - 06:25 PM: Subject: The Book of Dead Philosophers	#1
Just finished reading "The Book of Dead Philosophers". What did everyone think of it?

Cadrache
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Posted 10/29/09 - 07:20 PM:	#2
I never thought of it. Does it really exist then? Actually... here is my thought. The title "The book of Dead Philosophers" is a brilliant usage of the dualistic nature between types of existence. It also allows one to observe the physical presence of knowledge acting upon the non-physical entity that never dies - which is completely different then being a Dead Philosopher. Aye... Marx, Plato, Aristotle, and a few other people are dead. The Philosopher Socrates is a thriving cripple. Soo much lost - yet The Philospher is yet to die. Individuals too busy decoding "This person wants a glass of milk" and failing to realize that the child is soo much more then those swaddled wrappings. Edited by Cadrache on 10/29/09 - 07:29 PM
"...There was a writer who asked why it was that when we find positive experiences we say that only the physical facts are real, but in negative experiences we believe that reality is subjective. He made an example of those who say that in birth only the pain is real, the joy a subjective point of view, but that in death it is the emotional loss that is the reality." - Tony Ballantyne, Recursion. _____________________________________________ Truth is want. - The internal state of matters. Truth is Need. - The external state of affairs.

Rypcord
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Posted 10/29/09 - 09:15 PM:	#3
....I was more or less just wondering what people thought of the book (the actual, physical book) - as in... book reviews.

ciceronianus
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Posted 10/30/09 - 06:52 AM:	#4
I thought it was interesting and amusing.
"Let us not pretend to doubt in philosophy what we do not doubt in our hearts."--C.S. Peirce "There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it."--Marcus Tullius Cicero "Philosophy recovers itself when it ceases to be a device for dealing with the problems of philosophers and becomes a method, cultivated by philosophers, for dealing with the problems of men."--John Dewey

Kelby
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Posted 10/30/09 - 11:10 AM:	#5
I liked it. It was an interesting take on the history of philosophy by a pessimist...something you don't get often nowadays.

180 Proof
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Posted 10/30/09 - 06:44 PM:	#6
I've found most of Critchley's works quite engaging & well-written, especially: Very Little ... Almost Nothing: Death, Philosophy and Literature (1997) On Humour (2002) both of which I think are his most philosophically interesting. The Book of Dead Philosophers (2008), however, is perhaps his weakest; it seems as much (or more) of a self-help pamphlet as a philosophical essay.
The question isn't "Which explanations do I believe?" but rather "Which explanations do I least disbelieve?" Absence of evidence THAT MUST BE THERE (i.e. implied by any claim, concept, or (its) predicates, that affects changes in/to the world) entails evidence of absence. [What cannot be done?[What cannot be hoped?[What cannot be known?]]]

Banno
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Posted 10/30/09 - 06:45 PM:	#7
Laughed 'till I dropped. One of my favourites, and such an easy read.
Davidson: We make maximum sense of the words and thoughts of others when we interpret in a way that optimizes agreement. Russel Morris: There's a meaning there, but the meaning there doesn't really mean a thing... Ned: Such is life

stax
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Posted 11/01/09 - 10:10 PM:	#8
I liked it. It was like a better, more refined, and much more lucid and informed Alain De Button.
"Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills." Arthur Schopenhauer "To convince someone of the truth, it is not enough to state it, but rather one must find the path from error to truth." Ludwig Wittgenstein "Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open." Ludwig Wittgenstein

Rypcord
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