ISBN 0 7206 1219 5
Non-fiction/Philosophy
231pp
Paperback
£13.95
Available

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Philosophers Behaving Badly

Nigel Rodgers & Mel Thompson

Those seeking in philosophy a guide for the perplexed should be warned.

While philosophy can enlighten, it can also mislead and delude. As Descartes observed, ‘The greatest souls are capable of the greatest vices as well as the greatest virtues.’

This book explores the perils of philosophy. It shows that philosophers’ own behaviour, sometimes bad, sometimes sad, occasionally downright mad, is seldom entirely unconnected with their thinking.

Philosophers Behaving Badly examines the lives of eight great philosophers: Rousseau, whose views on education and the social order seem curiously at odds with his own outrageous life; Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, two giants of the nineteenth century whose words seem ever more relevant today; and five immensely influential philosophers of the twentieth century: Russell, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Sartre and Foucault.

All of which will show that the life of reason does not necessarily lead to a reasonable life.

‘Philosophers throughout history have not always been impeccable sages. Combining poppy and selective summaries of their [the authors’] subject’s thinking, genius is cut down to size in a work that is, overall, impressive.’- Guardian

‘Fascinating and revealing . . . Rodgers and Thompson are to be congratulated for taking an unholy slant on a holy subject . . . should certainly be on any university reading list.’ - Birmingham Post

‘Unapologetically leans towards exposing the less virtuous aspects of men (for they are all men) we hold in high intellectual esteem. Much of it is unpleasant reading . . . Judging the lives of the philosophers who were flawed enough to be included in this book is one thing. Judging their work is another. The authors are careful to make this distinction, and rightly so: while their lives elucidate their work, their personalities and choices, however repulsive, cannot be used to falsify their contribution to the history of western though. Indeed, this volume gives a new perspective for those familiar with ploughing through philosophy texts, in that doing so seems a cinch compared to spending time with their authors.’ - Herald (Glasgow)

‘Provides thumbnail bios and beliefs of eight great thinkers . . . Other writers and scholars have produced more scholarly, focused examinations, but for the impatient general reader seeking just enough play-by-play and detail, Rodgers and Thompson arrange a basic tool kit. Some of their material shocks, entertains and provokes on its own, with no need to attempt grand critical theory . . . The upshot of Philosophers Behaving Badly is that even lovers of wisdom require strict scrutiny. "I have always thought and still think myself the best of men", Rousseau once asserted. Hey, even a great philosopher can’t be right all the time!' - Philadelphia Enquirer

'The text is excellent. The premise is simple, though I am not aware of it having been done before or at least not so well. The authors do not give us an introduction to philosophy so much as an introduction to philosophers . Their main aim is to show us what they were like as people...The incidents are well chosen and the authors are to be congratulated.' - Peter Watson, Times Higher Education Supplement

NIGEL RODGERS is a historian and author of several publications, most recently The Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome (Lorenz, 2004) as well as biographies of Hitler and Churchill for Hodder and Stoughton.

MEL THOMPSON is the author of more than twenty books on philosophy and religion (including many published in the popular ‘Teach Yourself’ series), as well as a lecturer in philosophy.

For further information and extracts please visit Mel Thompson's website. Here.