Philosophers Behaving Badly
The life of reason does not necessarily lead to a reasonable life!
A cautionary note...
The authors wish to assure the reader that they have used their best endeavours to be scrupulously and equally unfair to all the philosophers included and highly selective in the material that they have sought to examine. Neither should the fact that a philosopher has not been mentioned in this volume to taken to imply that he or she may be considered to be of good character.
From the reviews...
‘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… Any student or beginner reading this book will want to know more about these extraordinary men.’ Times Higher Educational Supplement.
‘A marvellous little book… brilliantly attests to the fact that “a life of reason does not necessarily lead to a reasonable life”.’ Philosophy Now
‘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
‘Deeply entertaining… bathing in elevated Schadenfreude.’ The Catholic Herald
Now published in German, Spanish, Finnish, Turkish and Chinese!
Please don't be put off by the humour of the title!
This book is not some cynical attempt to undermine great philosophers. It seeks to give a general introductiont to their thought, but sets it against their life.
None were conventional, all displayed human weaknesses, but we show that their thinking developed in response to their lives, and that its value transcends the circumstances within which it was produced.
