In the last decade or so philosophy
seems to have experienced somewhat of a renaissance in terms of its new-found
popularity among an intelligent lay public. 
There have been a number of books published recently that target not
academic philosophers, but the lay public, which their authors believe can
benefit from the application of important philosophical ideas to people’s own
lives. Consider The Relevance of
Philosophy to Life, by Lachs; The Art of Living, by Nehamas; What
is Ancient Philosophy, and Philosophy as a Way of Life by Hadot; to
mention but a few recent titles; as well as the rapid growth of what my be
called the philosophical counseling movement.

Given these developments, I was
somewhat disappointed with Philosophy and Living. My disappointment perhaps is due to my
unfair projection of my own meaning onto the title of the book, Philosophy
and Living. This book is not so
much concerned with the contemporary usefulness of philosophical thinking in
terms of its application to people’s lives as it is an historical discussion of
how various philosophical and theological ideas took shape within and helped to
shape the various historical epochs within which they developed. It fits squarely into the genre known as the
history of ideas. Perhaps this should
not be surprising given that the author describes himself “as an amateur rather
than a professional philosopher….” (1).

According to Blumenau, “the title
of title of this book is intended to show that it concerns itself mainly with
those aspects of philosophy that have influenced people’s attitudes towards
their lives, toward each other and their society, towards their Gods, and
toward the ethical problems that confront them” (1). His target audience required a prose style which is not, as he says,
so “highly technical and so abstruse that only specialists could understand”
(1) it. Certainly Blumeanau achieves
his aim in this regard. The book is
written in a lively, casual, and engaging style with which a lay audience can
easily connect.

This lengthy book (630 pages),
divided into seven parts, presents a chronological exposition of major (and
sometimes minor) philosophical developments and thinkers from the pre-Socratics
to the post-structuralists. Part One:
Greece and Rome (98 pages), covers the Greek cosmologists through the Gnostic
theologian Marcian (100-165 a.d.), devoting most of the discussion to Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle. Part Two: The
Middle Ages (68 pages), starts with the early Christians and ends in the
pre-Reformation fifteenth century, and includes discussions of Augustine,
Aquinas, Roger Bacon, and William of Ockham. 
Part Three: Renaissance and Reformation (52 pages), begins with Petrarch
and the humanist renaissance, covers Luther, Calvin, and the Reformation, and
ends with Francis Bacon and the scientific revolution. Part Four: The Seventeenth Century (56
pages), includes rationalism, beginning with Descartes, devotes a few pages to
Pascal, and concludes with a discussion of seventeenth century political
thought ending with Locke. Part Five:
The Eighteenth Century (86 pages), begins with what Blumenau labels, the
“British Pragmatists” Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. This part also includes discussions of the Enlightenment,
romanticism, and eighteenth-century philosophers of history, such as Vico. Part Six: The Nineteenth Century (124
pages), begins with a discussion of Kant, includes Kierkegaard, utilitarianism,
a discussion of the notion of progress, philosophies of history, and ends with
Nietzsche and Bergson. Finally, Part
Seven: The Twentieth Century (87 pages), covers the existentialism of Heidegger
and Sartre; pragmatism; analytic philosophy in Russell, Wittgenstein, and
logical positivism; the philosophy of science of Popper and Kuhn; Isaiah
Berlin; Freud and Jung; and structuralism and post-structuralism, ending with
Foucault.

Earlier I said that sometimes minor
figures in the history of ideas included in the discussions of Philosophy
and Living. Since Blumenau offers
no overarching criteria of inclusion (there is only a brief two-page
introduction, with no introductions or conclusions to the various parts and
chapters), it’s not always clear why some thinkers are being included in this
book. This is one reason why philosophy
instructors may not find this the most useful text for their introductory
history of philosophy courses. On the
other hand, because of its very readable prose, this may make a useful
supplement in such courses. Aside from
its overall readability, there are other attractive features. The exposition of the major philosophical
and theological ideas are interspersed with references to contemporary
literature and history and there are many footnotes that refer to other parts
of the book for further exposition, related ideas, or reinforcement. Also, the author inserts at many places in
the expositions his own reflections and those of his past students, set in from
the margin and in a different type, to offer some connections, probing
questions, and perspectives on the sometimes difficult ideas under discussion.

Finally, Philosophy and Living
includes no overall conclusion. After
struggling through twenty-five hundred years of philosophical and theological
ideas one wonders what the point of it all was. Again, the title seems to indicate something important, but it is
never quite stated what that something is. 
Clinicians, therapists, and mental health professionals in general will
not find much guidance here.

©
2003 Ben Mulvey

Ben
Mulvey, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the
Division of Humanities of the College of Arts and Sciences at Nova Southeastern
University. He received his doctorate
in philosophy from Michigan State University with a specialization in political
theory and applied ethics. He teaches
ethics at NSU and is a member of the board of advisors of the Florida Bioethics
Network.

Categories: Philosophical