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Brenda Clough's Reviews > The Book of Dead Philosophers
The Book of Dead Philosophers
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This review first appeared in the International Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Association Magazine ()
People have been thinking about death for a long time. I am a big fan of not reinventing the wheel. If some expert has already figured it out, why not consult him? Philosophers are professional thinkers on the larger issues, so they are the natural go-to for questions of life and death. However, there has not been a handy compendium of their musings on the subject -- until now.
Simon Critchley, the author of The Book of Dead Philosophers says, “This is a book about how philosophers have died and what we can learn from philosophy about the appropriate attitude to death and dying. My wager is that in learning how to die we might also be taught how to live.� He has amassed in chronological order just about everybody who can be termed a philosopher, writing ninety short biographies that each invariably ends with the philosopher’s demise.
If anything, this book shows that philosophers can die accidentally, messily, or idiotically just like the rest of us � which actually works against the book’s stated premise, since philosophy is obviously no guarantee of a good death. Industry readers may also be annoyed by the way some philosophers (Seneca, for example) didn’t want funerals or tombs (Diogenes).
But the stories are quite amusing and frequently very funny. You also get a fine and easy-to-swallow survey of the entire body of classical philosophical thought. This would be a great gift for a true intellectual, but is probably not going to get a mention in PEOPLE magazine.
People have been thinking about death for a long time. I am a big fan of not reinventing the wheel. If some expert has already figured it out, why not consult him? Philosophers are professional thinkers on the larger issues, so they are the natural go-to for questions of life and death. However, there has not been a handy compendium of their musings on the subject -- until now.
Simon Critchley, the author of The Book of Dead Philosophers says, “This is a book about how philosophers have died and what we can learn from philosophy about the appropriate attitude to death and dying. My wager is that in learning how to die we might also be taught how to live.� He has amassed in chronological order just about everybody who can be termed a philosopher, writing ninety short biographies that each invariably ends with the philosopher’s demise.
If anything, this book shows that philosophers can die accidentally, messily, or idiotically just like the rest of us � which actually works against the book’s stated premise, since philosophy is obviously no guarantee of a good death. Industry readers may also be annoyed by the way some philosophers (Seneca, for example) didn’t want funerals or tombs (Diogenes).
But the stories are quite amusing and frequently very funny. You also get a fine and easy-to-swallow survey of the entire body of classical philosophical thought. This would be a great gift for a true intellectual, but is probably not going to get a mention in PEOPLE magazine.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
November 17, 2011
– Shelved
