|
 Building
a home philosophy library
Lyn
May and Steve Deery
The
first in a series of articles advising on how to build your own
home philosophy library.
No.
1 Thomas Nagel's Mortal Questions
Our
first three recommendations for building your home library follow
no conventional theme (check back here monthly for the further recommendations),
but rather whet your philosophical appetite.
The
rationale behind our first choice of books is to encourage the reader
to think. Philosophy without thinking would be like psychoanalysis
without denial. Our objective is not merely to grace your shelves
with impressively titled tomes - perish the thought! Selecting three
books that might encourage you to think needed to satisfy some general
criteria. These we felt should be accessible, memorable and, needless
to say, intriguing.
Before
making our recommendations we conducted a quick survey of postgraduate
philosophy students - just to check we weren't singing from the
wrong hymn sheet. The survey was unanimous in recommending Nagel's
Mortal Questions. Why Nagel? Well, aside from
his eminently readable style, Nagel takes you through a whole range
of issues that have perplexed, bemused or fascinated philosophers
for centuries. This eclectic collection of essays offers a view
on everything from the meaning of life to our understanding of death.
(Actually he starts with death, but no matter.) Two chapters in
particular deserve special mention. The first highlights the relevance
of philosophy to everyday life. The other gives an example of how
one article can imaginatively capture the essential features of
a debate in philosophy.
In
'The Absurd' Nagel looks at the meaning of life. He takes us back
to basics and asks us what it could mean for a life to have meaning.
He argues that we have meaning as long as we are immersed in the
life we do in fact have. It is only when we take a 'Gods eye view'
that the meaning disappears. Everyone is familiar with the 'in the
greater scheme of things' viewpoint, but it is just this viewpoint
that sucks the meaning out of life. Not everyone agrees with his
analysis of the relationship between meaning and our lives, but
'The Absurd' clearly illustrates some of the key issues when considering
a meaningful life.
In
'What is it like to be a bat?' Nagel asks us to consider, as attentive
readers might have guessed from the title, what it is like to be
a bat. This strange request is used to argue that the subjective
character of experience raises insurmountable obstacles for any
scientific account of consciousness. By using the bat as subject
Nagel shows us how alien some experiences are and questions our
ability to capture those experiences. Try it! 'What is it like...'
represents a classic thought experiment. It is both a seminal piece
in the philosophy of mind, and a thought provoking introduction
to the subject matter.
Mortal
Questions by Thomas Nagel (Cambridge University Press)
£7.95/$12.95
The
second book in the Building a Home Philosophy Library series will
be featured from December 1st 2000.
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