Contemporary Philosophers

[Smokey-smokey]

Hello everyone,

Would you recommend works by contemporary philosophers?

Mainly, I am looking for books that take the ideas of past philosophers and expand them or criticize them. Say, for example, a contemporary philosopher's take on Immanuel Kant (just an example)

Any help is appreciated

 

[DrT999]

'Plato at the Googleplex' by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (new this year)

'A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy' by William B. Irvine

'The Stoic Art of Living' by Tom Morris

'Roman Philosophy & the Good Life' by Raymond A Belliotti

 

[SteveS]

In the words of my personal favorite 'contemporary philosopher':

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable.
Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table.
David Hume could out-consume
Schopenhauer and Hegel,
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya'
'Bout the raising of the wrist.
SOCRATES, HIMSELF, WAS PERMANENTLY PISSED...

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will,
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill.
Plato, they say, could stick it away;
Half a crate of whiskey every day.
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle,
Hobbes was fond of his dram,
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart: "I drink, therefore I am"
Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed!

 

[DrT999]

'Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations' by Jules Evans, subtitled 'Ancient Philosophy for Modern Problems'. It looks at how various ancient Greco-Roman philosphies have been used by contemporary people, as well as going into the background info

 

[Zeno Marx]

Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff & Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson was an up & coming star of the philosophy world when I had a class with him.  He quickly upgraded schools.  He taught a great upper level Philosophy of Art class.

You might be better served by asking for the benchmark translations and reading their versions of original work.  It makes a huge difference who is doing the translating.  That is obvious to some, while pendantic to others (these people are silly).  For instance, Walter Kaufmann is generally who you want translating Nietzsche.  Plato's The Republic by Allan Bloom is th go-to translation.  The translation is of utmost importance to ancient philosophy and to German, French, Russian, and Eastern writings.  There are so many words and sentiments in which there are no English equivalents or that had multiple usages.  I remember reading Socrates and running into problems with the use of form.  If I remember correctly, there were at least four different ways it was used, and our contemporary use only covered one of them.  Which is maybe why you're asking for others who have deciphered all of this and made it more convenient and more readily understandable.  I still believe an original work is the best starting point.

 

[KevinM]

It seems hilariously funny to me now, but years, no, decades ago, I taught English lit at a school that tried "team teaching" the humanities. Seems like a great idea, yes? Maybe not so much. The philosophers had little use for characterization, plot, dialogue, conflict, resolution or any other familiar conventions of fiction. They simply appropriated conceptual content and would expound on it. They believed fiction writers were sending coded messages that only philosophers could understand. I'd interject something like, "But there's no reason to believe this author ever read Plato, and surely every reference to a cave is not a Platonic allusion." "Oh,that doesn't matter," they'd assure me and plunge ahead.

 

[Pipedreamer973]

Hello everyone,

Would you recommend works by contemporary philosophers?

Mainly, I am looking for books that take the ideas of past philosophers and expand them or criticize them. Say, for example, a contemporary philosopher's take on Immanuel Kant (just an example)

Any help is appreciated

Sorry about reviving a "dead" thread but methinks that Philosophy is never really dead as long as we are alive.

Anyhoo......if you liked Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance you might also enjoy a new work (2015) by Dan Camilli entitled "Tee Ceremony ; A Cosmic Duffer's Companion to the Ancient Game of Golf. Camilli views golf as a moving meditation - a kind of Tai Chi with clubs through which one may find deeper truths regarding yourself and others.

It is a funny, irreverent, yet thought-provoking read ; a wonderful introduction to Eastern and Western philosophy cleverly disguised as a book about golf. If you happen to golf- so much the better but there's plenty here for the non-golfer as well. (i.e. I enjoyed "Zen" yet have never ridden a motorcycle.  )
I got my copy at Amazon but noticed it's also available at barnesandnoble.
You can have a "Look Inside" the book at Amazon.
Cheers.