The Book of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley

The Book of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley

Simon Critchley taught a course at the New School For Social Research called "To Philosophize is to Learn to Die" in 2007. The summarizes of the philosophy and deaths of some 200 different philosophers speaks to this theme. The book begins with the Greeks and ends in the modern day

Each summary runs from a paragraph to a couple of pages depending on the importance of the philosophical figures. The book covers from the period of the early Greeks to modern day philosophers. It includes some Chinese, medieval arabic, medieval jewish, and women philosophers. The main divisions that are obvious are the pagan Greeks and Romans, the christians, and modern philosophers.

This book is not written for an academic audience. It is written to be enjoyed by the lay reader. There are no footnotes. There is a bibliography at the end. The writing is of ironic and funny. Some of the endings of important philosophers are quite perplexing. For example, according to legend, Pythagoras was killed because he refused to cross a bean field while being chased by his enemies.

We also learn that many were regarded more highly when they were dead than when they were alive. Nietzsche was one of these people. This is also true of many writers of what we call classic fiction.

Also, many philosophers choose to die for their beliefs, both christian and pagan. Plato died by drinking hemlock, and the Roman Emperor Nero killed three of the philosophers in the book. Maimonides was constantly on the run for his life.

Also, some refuse to give up their vices because they enjoyed them too much. Hannah Arendt would not stop drinking, nor would Freud stop smoking. There was a sense that many tried to live their life in the fullest possible way.

This is an enjoyable survey of what it means to live and die as a philosopher. It shows that death is not such a fearful thing. It also shows how unpredictable, capricious, funny, and ironic life can be.

Daily Thoughts 2/3/2010

Illustration of a bookstore, from Los Españoles pintados por sí mismos. 1851 edition; original publication would have been about a decade earlier.

Daily Thoughts 2/3/2010

I finished reading The Book of Dead Philosophers. In the afterword, Simon Critchley tells us that part of the book is based on a course at the New School for Social Research done in 2007 called "To Philosophize Is To Learn To Die." I enjoyed reading this book tremendously.

This morning, I watched a dvd called The Mystery of the Nile about the first expedition to travel the full length of the nile river to the sea. It was interesting hearing the narrative of the group passing through Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, and eventually reaching Alexandria. They visited ancient Egyptian temples, Ethiopian churches, and an ancient Nubian site. The film was originally done for IMAX.

I have started reading Starship Flagship by Mike Resnick. It is space opera with a bit of irony, humor, and political meandering thrown in.

Today, I have been going through our back orders checking to make sure they are accurate. I also checked to see how the books are coming in compared to other libraries in our system.

Daily Thoughts 2/2/2010

Nicolas de Largillière, Portrait of Voltaire, 1718, Oil on Canvas

Daily Thoughts 2/2/2010

I have been reading more of The Book of Dead Philosophers. It is quite insiteful. Politics and philosophy often lead to an untimely death, especially during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero. It seems best to do like the legend which says Lao Tzu disappeared from history on the back of a water buffalo as he crossed the border. I liked the idea that the heart of Voltaire is at the Bibliotheque Nacional in Paris.

Today has been a nice quiet day. I read the latest New York Times Book Review and made sure the displays were in order. I also put in my vacation and conference requests for the year.

I just discovered that John Fante's book, Ask the Dust was made into a film. I reserved it and hope to see it soon. John Fante is a very talented writer. He regularly corresponded with Charles Bukowski.

On the train home, I read some more of The Book of Dead Philosophers and learned another tidbit of information, Charles Darwin is buried next to Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey. The book is not scholarly, it is more of a popular book meant to entertain and impart ideas.

Daily Thoughts 2/1/2010

Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey, taken circa 1900.

Daily Thoughts 2/1/2010

My first thought for the day is that Barnes and Noble in its Business to Business accounts has a library accounts section. I find it kind of interesting. They are starting to compete with the large book distributors. http://btob.barnesandnoble.com/bn-at-school/library-services.asp?btob=Y&cds2Pid=17562&linkid=1444099

I met with a gentleman to discuss doing a poetry program in April for the library. I am going to try and do it on a Saturday afternoon. This way, people will be able to come to the program. Usually, about two months is about the right window to advertise and promote a program so people come. This will give me time to write the flyer and get it out to the newspapers and community organizations. On another thought, I am planning to do a Shojo (girls manga program this month.)

We had a meeting discussing how we might reduce costs. There was quite a bit of talk about recycling paper and what to do with our discards. We also talked a bit about donations to the library. We will probably also be doing more ordering in bulk.

I designed two fliers today, one for my poetry program, and one for the graphic novels club. I am hoping that they will turn out well. There has been quite a bit of interest lately in poetry at the library.

I have picked out a number of books to read, Poe 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, edited by Ellen Datlow, Starship Flagship by Mike Resnick, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget Save Money, Save Time, Save the Planet by Josh Dorfman, and The book of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley. I also picked up two dvds to look at, the Disney Pixar film UP, and Mystery of the Nile produced by Orbita Imax. Hopefully this will be as good as the dvd Dinosaurs Alive which was narrated by Michael Douglas.

I have started reading The Book of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley on the train home. It is an overview of philosophy giving the account of some 200 different philosophers and how they died. Each entry varies from a few sentences to a few pages. The book is full of wonderful tidbits of useless knowledge. There is a legend that Pythagoras was killed because he refused to cross a beanfield even though he was being chased by his enemies. There are asteroids named after Lao Tsu and Kongzi (Confucius). In the 14th century Aesop was considered an important philosopher in the Western philosophy. This book is a reflection on philosophers and their deaths. Some of it is ironic and funny. Other parts are reflections on how to live well and die well. It is enjoyable reading.