Philosophical Tales [Paperback]

“We need more stories in philosophy, and Martin Cohen aims to fill this lacuna with Philosophical Tales. [This book] is intended for a general audience interested in a satirical introduction to overlooked aspects of Western philosophy and the lives of the great philosophers.  Philosophical Tales does tell a number of interesting stories, and any instructor of philosophy will find it handy to have these stories available to enliven a class.  Instructors will also find it valuable to use these philosophical tales to raise a compelling question: is a philosophy only as good as the philosopher who proposes it?” (Teaching Philosophy, December 2009) 

"Great philosophers only become well known after their deaths. Indeed, to speak of contemporary celebrity philosophers is oxymoronic. Still, one can′t help wondering who amongst living philosophers will merit future Philosophical Tales. (The Philosopher, Autumn 2008)

“A lover of philosophical ideas and practiced debunker of intellectual sham, Martin Cohen knocks some thirty important philosophers from Socrates to Derrida off their pedestals, and presents in a series of philosophical tales various aspects of their thought, life and personality which few of us ever suspected.” Zenon Stavrinides, University of Bradford

Enlightening and entertaining, Philosophical Tales examines a few of the fascinating biographical details of history’s greatest philosophers (alas, mostly men) and highlights their contributions to the field. By applying the true philosophical approach to philosophy itself, the text provides us with a refreshing ′alternative history′ of philosophy.

• Opens up new philosophical debate by applying the true philosophical approach to philosophy itself


• Provides summaries of the most celebrated and philosophically interesting tales, their backgrounds, and assessments of the leading players
  
• Explores philosophers and schools of thought in one key philosophical text to supply a solid grounding in philosophical ideas and individuals
  
• Shakes some of the foundations of philosophy with the aim of encouraging the reinvigoration of philosophy itself

The Amazon price indicated has sometimes been incorrect. The RRP is 11.95, not 19.95.

Philosophers, more even than poets and composers, set themselves apart from common humanity to engage in their uncommonly rarefied practices. In the unlikely event of their productions becoming even vaguely well known they shun publicity.

Their obituaries and encyclopaedic entries condense life long achievements into garbled accounts of their philosophies, dates of publication of their more respectable works and odd biographical details.

Fortunately, in Philosophical Tales Martin Cohen has compiled highly entertaining accounts of all too human aspects of thirty philosophers, presumably the more quirky of the breed. But of course the whole point of the exercise is selection of behaviours exponent of, or in marked contrast to, their perpetrators' stated philosophies. Schopenhauer, an example of the former, and Marx, of the latter, appear prominently on the cover. Raul Gonzalez III's illustrations complement the text admirably. His Augustine is a masterpiece, suitable for reproduction as a missal book mark.

Philosophical Tales is both readable and enjoyable with the added advantage that potted versions of their philosophies, required to appreciate the relevance of accounts of their misdemeanours, illuminate these thirty philosophers' works remarkably well. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Was Socrates really the saintly figure he became for later philosophy? Why is it doubtful that Descartes ever really uttered, “I think, therefore I am”? And what did Sartre have against waiters, anyway? The history of philosophy is filled with great tales – many of them fictions, misrepresentations, falsehoods, lies, and fibs. Or are they just misstatements, prevarications, and narratives not entirely based on fact? In the true spirit of a broad philosophical debate, Philosophical Tales dips a toe into the great sea of philosophy to collect, deconstruct, and relate many of history’s great – and not so great – philosophical tales.

Enlightening and entertaining, Philosophical Tales examines a few of the fascinating biographical details of history’s greatest philosophers (alas, mostly men) and highlights their contributions to the field. By applying the true philosophical approach to philosophy itself, the text provides us with a refreshing “alternative history” of philosophy.

But why should someone want to know that Kant rolled himself three times in his sheets each night before sleeping, that Schopenhauer pushed a poor old lady down the stairs, or that Marx spent as much time on beer and women as he did in the British Library? By examining the seeming trivialities of philosophers’ lives – and skewering a few cherished myths along the way – Philosophical Tales provides us with illuminating insights that will encourage a more active, critical way of thinking. Blaise Pascal may have put it best when he said, “To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.”

Martin Cohen is a teacher and writer specializing in philosophy, ethics and education, with a special interest in computing. His books include 101 Philosophy Problems (2nd edn., 2001), Political Philosophy (2001), 101 Ethical Dilemmas (2003), and Wittgenstein′s Beetle and Other Classic Thought Experiments (Blackwell, 2005). He has been editor of The Philosopher since 1995.

excerpted from the section 'Enlightened Philosophy':

John Locke invents the Slave Trade
(1632-1704)

John Locke was born in a quiet Somerset village into a Puritan trading family, and into a rather less quiet period of Civil War between Parliament and Royalists. Tall and thin, with a long nose like a horse, and what one biographer has called 'soft, melancholy eyes', his 1689 Essay Concerning Human Understanding described knowledge as nothing more than 'the perception of the connexion and agreement' of ideas . Since this rules out the possibility of innate knowledge, his philosophy was seen as an antidote to Descartes'. And in describing how the mind might take in 'simple or complex ideas' via the senses, before assembling them to create knowledge, he also reflected the mechanistic science of the time.

However, it is his political theory, set out in the Two Treatises on Civil Government (1690) that became the more influential. It is credited with inspiring both the American and the French Revolutions in the name of fundamental rights and freedoms. Locke's influence is there in the American Declaration of Independence, in their constitutional separation of powers, and the Bill of Rights. It is there too in the doctrine of natural rights that appears at the outset of the French Revolution, and in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, 'All being equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions', declares Locke, firmly.

Everyone, that is, except slaves. Because, curiously, the philosopher whose name inspired others to demand 'liberty' had another more sinister side.