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The Resource The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll : unexpected essays on philosophy, art, life, and death, Ben-Ami Scharfstein

The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll : unexpected essays on philosophy, art, life, and death, Ben-Ami Scharfstein

Creator
Summary
What if Immanuel Kant floated down from his transcendental heights, straight through Alice's rabbit hole, and into the fabulous world of Lewis Carroll? For Ben-Ami Scharfstein this is a wonderfully instructive scenario and the perfect way to begin this wide-ranging collection of decades of startlingly synthesized thought. Combining a deep knowledge of psychology, cultural anthropology, art history, and the history of religions<U+0127> �not to mention philosophy<U+0127> �he demonstrates again and again the unpredictability of writing and thought and how they can teach us about our experiences. Scharfstein begins with essays on the nature of philosophy itself, moving from an autobiographical account of the trials of being a comparativist to philosophy's function in the outside world to the fear of death in Kant and Hume. From there he explores an impressive array of art: from China and Japan to India and the West; from an essay on sadistic and masochistic body art to one on the epistemology of the deaf and the blind. He then returns to philosophy, writing on Machiavelli and political ruthlessness, then on the ineffable, and closes with a review of Walter Kaufmann's multivolume look at the essence of humanity, Discovering the Mind. Altogether, these essays are a testament to adventurous thought, the kind that leaps to the furthest reaches of the possible.--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
242 pages
Contents
  • Introduction: you, me, Kant, and Carroll
  • The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll
  • A comparatist's risks and rewards
  • A handful of rules against philosophical self-isolation
  • What death makes of philosophy
  • Keeping the world together
  • The common universe of aesthetics
  • Are the deaf and blind epistemologically isolated?
  • Pain, cruelty, and pathology in art
  • On the transparency and opacity of philosophers
  • The three philosophical traditions
  • Does philosophy progress?
  • Nonutopian observations on Machiavellism
  • On the nature and limits of ineffability
  • Ineffabilities are the demons and angels of incompleteness and incompletability
  • What can and cannot words express?
  • The bird with bread in its beak
  • You, me, and Kaufmann's discovering the mind
Isbn
9780226105758
Instance
Label
The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll : unexpected essays on philosophy, art, life, and death
Title
The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll
Title remainder
unexpected essays on philosophy, art, life, and death
Statement of responsibility
Ben-Ami Scharfstein
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
What if Immanuel Kant floated down from his transcendental heights, straight through Alice's rabbit hole, and into the fabulous world of Lewis Carroll? For Ben-Ami Scharfstein this is a wonderfully instructive scenario and the perfect way to begin this wide-ranging collection of decades of startlingly synthesized thought. Combining a deep knowledge of psychology, cultural anthropology, art history, and the history of religions<U+0127> �not to mention philosophy<U+0127> �he demonstrates again and again the unpredictability of writing and thought and how they can teach us about our experiences. Scharfstein begins with essays on the nature of philosophy itself, moving from an autobiographical account of the trials of being a comparativist to philosophy's function in the outside world to the fear of death in Kant and Hume. From there he explores an impressive array of art: from China and Japan to India and the West; from an essay on sadistic and masochistic body art to one on the epistemology of the deaf and the blind. He then returns to philosophy, writing on Machiavelli and political ruthlessness, then on the ineffable, and closes with a review of Walter Kaufmann's multivolume look at the essence of humanity, Discovering the Mind. Altogether, these essays are a testament to adventurous thought, the kind that leaps to the furthest reaches of the possible.--
Assigning source
Provided by Publisher
Cataloging source
ICU/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1919-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Scharfstein, Ben-Ami
Index
no index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Kant, Immanuel
  • Carroll, Lewis
  • Philosophy, Comparative
  • Art, Comparative
  • Machiavellianism (Psychology)
Label
The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll : unexpected essays on philosophy, art, life, and death, Ben-Ami Scharfstein
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-242)
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
Introduction: you, me, Kant, and Carroll -- The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll -- A comparatist's risks and rewards -- A handful of rules against philosophical self-isolation -- What death makes of philosophy -- Keeping the world together -- The common universe of aesthetics -- Are the deaf and blind epistemologically isolated? -- Pain, cruelty, and pathology in art -- On the transparency and opacity of philosophers -- The three philosophical traditions -- Does philosophy progress? -- Nonutopian observations on Machiavellism -- On the nature and limits of ineffability -- Ineffabilities are the demons and angels of incompleteness and incompletability -- What can and cannot words express? -- The bird with bread in its beak -- You, me, and Kaufmann's discovering the mind
Control code
FIEb17551225
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
242 pages
Isbn
9780226105758
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)859446801
Label
The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll : unexpected essays on philosophy, art, life, and death, Ben-Ami Scharfstein
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-242)
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
Introduction: you, me, Kant, and Carroll -- The nonsense of Kant and Lewis Carroll -- A comparatist's risks and rewards -- A handful of rules against philosophical self-isolation -- What death makes of philosophy -- Keeping the world together -- The common universe of aesthetics -- Are the deaf and blind epistemologically isolated? -- Pain, cruelty, and pathology in art -- On the transparency and opacity of philosophers -- The three philosophical traditions -- Does philosophy progress? -- Nonutopian observations on Machiavellism -- On the nature and limits of ineffability -- Ineffabilities are the demons and angels of incompleteness and incompletability -- What can and cannot words express? -- The bird with bread in its beak -- You, me, and Kaufmann's discovering the mind
Control code
FIEb17551225
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
242 pages
Isbn
9780226105758
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)859446801

Subject

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