The Book Of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley

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The Book Of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley

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Summary

The question of what constitutes a 'good death' has been a central preoccupation of philosophers since ancient times. This book looks at 190 philosophers' often bizarre deaths and offers tales of madness, murder and pathos.

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The Book Of Dead Philosophers by Simon Critchley

Starting from the premise that philosophers' deaths have been as interesting as their lives, Simon Critchley looks at the strange circumstances in which some philosophers have died and then confronts the big themes - in this case, what 'a good death' means and how to live with the knowledge of death. The book consists of short entries on various philosophers, cataloguing the manner of their demises and linking this to their central ideas, from the Pre-Socratics to Rousseau, Kant and Nietzsche among many others. The book concludes with Critchley's thoughts on the ideal of the philosophical death as a way of denouncing contemporary delusions and sophistries, what Francis Bacon saw as the Idols of the Tribe, the Den, the Market-Place and the Theatre (incidentally, Bacon died in a particularly cold winter in London in 1626 from a cold contracted after trying to stuff a chicken with snow as an experiment in refrigeration).
Simon Critchley is Professor of Philosophy at the New School in New York. He is the author of many books, most recently On Heidegger's Being and Time and Infinitely Demanding: Ethics of Commitment, Politics of Resistance and has also written about the philosophy of humour and poetry. He was born in the UK lives in Brooklyn.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781847080790
ISBN 10 1847080790
Title The Book Of Dead Philosophers
Author Simon Critchley
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Granta Books
Year published 2009-10-05
Number of pages 336
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable