The Autobiography of Philosophy [Hardcover]

Michael Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1999 | ISBN-10: 0847692264 | ISBN-13: 978-0847692262

This is the most important book about the nature of philosophy and of the human soul published this year. In making the condition for its own possibility its deepest concern, philosophy is necessarily about itself—it is autobiographical. The first part of The Autobiography of Philosophy interprets Heidegger's Being and Time, Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals, Aristotle's Metaphysics, and Plato's Lysis as examples of the implicitly autobiographical character of philosophy. The second part is a reading of Rousseau's The Reveries of the Solitary Walker. Although Rousseau's explicitly autobiographical writings are more often read for the tantalizing details of his rather eccentric life than for their philosophical import, this work is an artful use of Rousseau's exile and isolation—"the strangest position in which a mortal could ever find himself"—as a paradigm for the human soul in its relation to the world. In powerfully articulating the activity that is at the core of all philosophy, The Reveries articulates the nature of the human soul for which this activity is the defining possibility.

Editorial Reviews

Review

<...>considers the character and role of philosophy, or of philosophizing, <...>comprises a series of chapters on Rousseau's Reveries, devoting one to each of the 'Walks' in that work in turn, assessing and extending their themes and ideas and bringing forward the interpretation of their underlying significance.... (Nicholas Dent )

This book is both far reaching and tightly focused. (Review Of Metaphysics )

Davis does an excellent job of teasing out several interrelated tensions in the Reveries . . . careful and illuminating. . . . Displays an excellent philosophical sensitivity to particular texts. (Rebecca Kukla Philosophy In Review )

<...>considers the character and role of philosophy, or of philosophizing, <...>comprises a series of chapters on Rousseau's Reveries, devoting one to each of the 'Walks' in that work in turn, assessing and extending their themes and ideas and bringing forward the interpretation of their underlying significance. (Nicholas Dent )

About the Author

Michael Davis is professor of philosophy at Sarah Lawrence College. His most recent works include The Politics of Philosophy: A Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (January 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847692264
• ISBN-13: 978-0847692262
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,822,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide to the deeper meaning of Rousseau, June 9, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Autobiography of Philosophy (Hardcover)

Here one walks into profound reveries of unraveled clarity. Davis's book is a powerful, inspired, and enormously thought explication which gives birth to new wisdom honoring the words of Rousseau. Davis knows that the only way to do justice to him is to faithfully and painstakingly follow Rousseau's path. He is the most fortunate of authors to have Michael Davis as his companion. Suffer the first four chapters; what follows, especially in the last two chapters, will justify your effort to understand. Anyone interested in philosophy should read this book.