Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Gutting challenges readers who view philosophy as a merely academic discipline by showing them again and again how philosophy can do hard work in the rough-and-tumble world. Whether assessing why neoconservative commentator David Frum endorsed Mitt Romney for the presidency, critiquing biologist Richard Dawkins' attack on religion, or interrogating economist Milton Friedman's advocacy for profit-driven capitalism, Gutting develops a public philosophy that speaks to and draws strength from ordinary people dealing with normal human concerns. To be sure, Gutting schools his readers in technical philosophic concepts such as ontology and epistemic peers but only to give them practical tools for untangling vexing enigmas. Predictably, how readers use these tools will depend on personal convictions that Gutting acknowledges can never be fully rationalized. Yet readers soon realize that translating their convictions into logical arguments may help persuade others of the validity of their views and may also deepen their own self-understanding. Philosophical self-understanding will, in fact, give readers insights into the possibilities for reforming contemporary education that Gutting explores. Readers thus acquire a deep appreciation for philosophy as a mode of reflection we still need in a world overly reliant on science. Compellingly updates for the postmodern world the timeless Socratic quest for wisdom.--Christensen, Bryce Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
In this collection of essays, Gutting (endowed chair in philosophy, Univ. of Notre Dame; What Philosophers Know), a contributor to the New York Times philosophy blog "The Stone," seeks to expand on modern-day topics covered in his blog posts. The pieces in this compilation are much longer than his posts and, in turn, more in-depth. As with "The Stone," the intended audience is philosophers outside of academia. Each chapter focuses on a debatable issue-the limits of science, the morality of abortion-and applies philosophical concepts and principles to show how philosophy can help guide our discussions. While demonstrating the ways in which aspects of philosophy can assist our conversations, Gutting is also concerned with illustrating the worth of philosophy to those who might think it no longer has a place in the dialog. VERDICT While Gutting applies complex philosophical and logical principles in his essays, he does so in an accessible way. The range of essays makes this work appealing to anyone with an interest in philosophy.-Scott -Duimstra, Capital Area Dist. Lib., Lansing, MI © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
It can't take you to the airport, but philosophy, as this spirited book argues, can do all sorts of great thingsincluding contribute to our happiness. An introduction to "public philosophy," which Gutting (Philosophy/Notre Dame Univ.; Thinking the Impossible: French Philosophy Since 1960, 2011, etc.) defines as "an application of and a complement to the more technical and specialized work of academic philosophers," this well-argued book begins a daunting task: making political arguments less stupid and more humane. Those arguments, writes the author, tend toward practical or epistemic circularity, a less folksy way of saying that they preach to the choir: if you believe that George W. Bush was a dunce, then it follows that anyone who believes that he was a great president is also a dunce. Gutting counsels greater generosity of spirit in advancing our political views, which fuel debates that are central to attaining knowledge about our social world, therefore allowing us to make better choices about what policies to pursue. If all that seems a touch ideal, so do the author's informed critiques of capitalism, which similarly draw on the "principle of charity" while showing how our self-interest is traduced: "The amount of instrumental work [capitalism] demands leaves us little time for work that's valuable for its own sake, and it pushes us to want things we think will make us happy even though they won't." By inference, capitalism thus works against our happiness, for all the protestations of the free market purists. Gutting's applications of philosophical and scientific principles to such questions as abortion and the existence of God are bracing. One hopes that these pieces, which grew from the author's blog posts for the New York Times, might encourage better argumentation. Besides, it's nice to see both Richard Dawkins and climate change deniers get slapped around a little, if always politely. Somewhat less supple than Simon Blackburn's Think (1999) as a general introduction to philosophy but an excellent, readable, and eminently practical guide. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
