NEW paperback

Falling in Love with Wisdom: American Philosophers Talk About Their Calling [Paperback] Karnos, David D and Shoemaker, Robert G

David Lynn Halls love of philosophy began with a fiftycent paperback Then an adolescent facing an 18hour bus trip across the great Southwest, desperate for anything to read, Hall bought Alfred North Whiteheads Adventures of Ideas at a rest stop in Pecos, Texas He didnt have a clue who Whitehead was, but the book had a colorful, exotic cover, and nothing else on the revolving wire bookrack appealed to him I paid fifty cents, boarded the Trailways bus, nestled into my narrow seat and into the vastness of the desert spacesand soon into the yet vaster spaces of humanitys great thoughts As I recall that first encounter with philosophic thinking, I seem to capture the exact emotiona mixture of intrigue and perplexity, a congealed sense of awethe apotheosis of which is the feeling philosophy now represents for me That Mentor paperback still sits on his shelf, a treasured relic held together by rubberbandsHall is just one of over sixty philosophers whose revealing memoirs appear in Falling in Love with Wisdom, a fascinating look at how some people became philosophers Contributed by thinkers young and old, male and female, famous and obscure, these pieces reveal in very human terms both the rewards and hazards of a life dedicated to the pursuit of wisdom Many recall a single memorable moment, an epiphany that changed forever the way they thought about themselves and the world around them Huston Smith reveals how powerful these moments can be: My excitement had been mounting all evening and around midnight it exploded, shattering mental stockades It was as if a fourth dimension of space had opened, and ideasnow palpablewere unrolling like carpets before me Others, such as Diane Michelfelder, find their gravitation to philosophy more subtle: I sometimes think that one becomes a philosopher the same way one becomes many other things: a lover, a neighbor, a friend, an adultYou wake up one morning to discover that is what you have become Still others speak of valued mentors Angela Davis recounts her relationship with Herbert Marcuse, brushes with death, and the personal pain of social prejudice and ostracism And throughout the book, there is much humor Wallace Matson recounts his mothers horrified reaction to his precocious religious scepticism: If you dont believe in God, she cried, you can never be elected to public office and many surprises Arthur C Danto, for instance, admits he entered Columbias graduate program in philosophy simply to keep getting the GI Bill while he pursued his true ambition, painting: I had no great interest in philosophy, and certainly no intention of becoming a philosopherThese sixtyfour memoirsalmost all of which were written for this volumereveal that the road to wisdom has many onramps Yet all would ultimately agree with Henry Kyburg I imagine being asked, Kyburg writes, How did a healthy, ambitious, accomplished man like you, with all the advantages you have had, end up in such a useless dead end profession? To which I would smugly reply, Just lucky, I guess