Philosophy On Deck

In sticking with my original plan to overcome my hopping tendencies, I am continuing my sparring match with Hegel. I have three short books to read about him, plus a longer one penned by Walter Kaufmann, then back to the anthology. I expect to be done with my reading and research by mid-September, a little less than four months away. Have to be, because that’s when my second child is due, and there ain’t gonna be no philosophy reading in my house for at least a few weeks after that. Screaming infants have that effect.

However, I do have a stack of unread books leaning against my desk. Actually, five of them. One is my philosophy stack, and there’s about a dozen books piled up. I’m thinking, in a kind of easy, non-commital way, that beginning with the new year I might take two months at a time to read a philosopher – and just one book at that. Tentatively, I came up with the following list to take me to next summer. And for your enjoyment, I include a photo of the philosopher in question, so you can put a face to the name (winks).



Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274): Shorter Summa. Ah, the master. Always wanted to comprehend him, but found the Summa Theologica too … analytical, I suppose. Is that the right word? Well, hard for me to read. The Shorter Summa is easier, and I did read through most of it a few years ago. But I want another go around.



William James (1842-1910): Pragmatism. This is supposedly one of the easiest philosophy books to read. And by easy, we don’t mean fluff. We mean intelligible. Understandable. 180 degrees from Hegel, the antimatter-Hegel in that regard. Anyway, I’ve had this one for a long time and the underlying idea behind pragmatism interests me: take what you find useful, what works, what’s ‘true’, and disregard the rest. Well, that’s quite simplified, but I suppose it’s a pragmatic definition.



Henri Bergson (1859-1941): Matter and Memory. This book tackles the mind-body problem. I’ve only read short selections of Bergson, and only a few at that, but I enjoyed what I read and think I understood it. This would be my first deep foray into this man’s philosophy. I heard the book is somewhat difficult, and that Bergson spent years researching and clarifying his thoughts before actually writing it. I’m curious to see how it relates to Hegel’s Phenomenology.



Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855): Purity of Heart Is To Will One Thing. The spiritual / religious side of me has often wanted to read this man, seeing in him a kindred spirit, but I always, sooner rather than later, get turned off. I’d like to read this book as a true test of developing focus, and stick with it to the end. It’s not long, and shouldn’t be too difficult, and the title really, really interests me.