A Map to the End of Time: Wayfarings with Friends and Philosophers [Hardcover]

Ronald J. Manheimer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

Tales both playful and profound exploring answers to life's Big Questions.

Teaching philosophy to retired people should be a path to wisdom, Ron Manheimer thought. He was right, but in an unexpected fashion. His lively Socratic "dialogues" with older people led him into hilarious and provocative conversations with a colorful cast of fellow seekers: from his bon vivant Danish mentor Augie Nielsen to his strong-willed elderly student Hildegard, from his ironic teenaged daughter Esther to his wisecracking Uncle Joe.

Like James Carse in Breakfast at the Victory, Manheimer reinvigorates the ancient tradition of using storytelling to explore truth. What is romantic love? How do we shape the stories we tell ourselves about our own pasts? Does the purpose of life become clearer in old age? How do we find common meanings across religious, ethnic, and generational divides? What is the essence of a person? What does it mean to live a "full" life?

Showing how ideas and lives can illuminate one another, Manheimer's engaging narratives address these questions while providing an inviting exploration of the ideas of thinkers from Plato and Aristotle to Kierkegaard, John Stuart Mill, and Martin Buber. A great teacher, Manheimer shows how these philosophers might provide the footgear for treading everyday paths of human experience, on our inevitable journeys to "the end of time."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In 1976, inspired by Tennyson's poem "Ulysses"--in which the hero of Greek mythology declares his intention late in life "to follow knowledge like a sinking star / beyond the utmost bound of human thought"--Ronald Manheimer began teaching philosophy to retired senior citizens, hoping to gain some insight into growing older through listening to their stories. The conversations collected in A Map to the End of Time demonstrate the fruitfulness of that project, putting a modern spin on the search for answers to the eternal questions. Although the dialogue is almost too good to be true in some spots, the analyses of texts like T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets (or more traditional philosophers such as Plato and Mill) that emerge from his stories are often both poignant and penetrating.

From Library Journal

This is a book about aging, teaching, and philosophy itself. On the surface it is a running narrative of Manheimer's experiences teaching philosophy to the elderly. His students and his own teachers appear as characters in a dialog; as in his earlier book (Kierkegaard as Teacher, 1977), his message is partly that the complexity of philosophy is best presented as an interplay of voices. But here a minor theme from the earlier book becomes dominant: philosophy is an expression of the need to make sense of one's own life. The elderly have a special contribution to make, for their long lives demand reflection. In complementary fashion, philosophical reflection may reveal the significance of growing old. Manheimer writes with charm and humility, but teaching readers to philosophize is difficult. Stanley Cavell (A Pitch of Philosophy, LJ 5/1/94) almost succeeded in combining narrative and system, but Cavell's is a much more egocentric book. Manheimer's is a good choice for any public library.ALeslie Armour, Univ. of Ottawa, Ont.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393047253
• ISBN-13: 978-0393047257
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,528,159 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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy as a tool for one's own journey into old age., July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Map to the End of Time: Wayfarings with Friends and Philosophers (Hardcover)

When it comes to bookstores and libraries, I'm a browser and a grazer-always looking for and often finding serendipitously that book I can't put down until I've read it cover-to-cover. Ron Manheimer's "A Map to the End of Time" is one of those finds! Recognizing the author's name from our professional connections in gerontology and adult education, I picked the book off the "New Non-Fiction" shelf at a favorite bookstore where I can read and have my Saturday morning latte and scone at the same time. By the time the last scone crumb was devoured, I was hooked on this book. Over the next few days, I found I could hardly put it down and, when I came to the last page, I immediately turned back to the first page and started reading it again. Then, I began to ask what it is about this book that captured me. Part of the answer is the conversational style that allows me to think of what I would ask and say in conversations with Ron's "wayfaring friends and philosophers" -Ron opens the door and invites the reader in as a participant. Even more compelling is how this author carries the reader along on his shoulder as he journeys through his own search for answers to his own questions about the meaning, tasks, and new opportunities of old age. Through his own search, then, Ron role models how a philosophical perspective enriches both the journey and the search. Because he continues to ask new questions or rephrase those previously asked, he encourages readers to explore their own path with their own questions. Instead of an abstract and erudite discipline, this book has helped me learn how to use philosophy as a tool in my personal search for the meaning of my own aging and to think about what it is that I want to do and am meant to do as I take my own journey into the land of old age. (C. Joanne Grabinski, President, AgeEd)

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant and Inspiring, July 26, 2000

By 

Scott - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Map to the End of Time: Wayfarings with Friends and Philosophers (Hardcover)

I stumbled on this book in the university bookstore and was fascinated from the first pages. Mannheimer does a beautiful job illuminating the ideas of philosophers through the stories of older people he has met. I was particularly taken with Uncle Joe, whose musings at a bar mitvah on the sources of laughter were delightful and profound. If you are looking for an entertaining, gentle, and thoughtful read filled with wonderful characters -- this is the book for you.

4.0 out of 5 stars Focus's on older people's look at what is important in life., May 28, 1999

By 

R. Schoultz "bob schoultz" (San Diego Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Map to the End of Time: Wayfarings with Friends and Philosophers (Hardcover)

A conversational look at how and why older people look at life's key issues differently than younger people. Ron Manheimer is a trained philosopher who began teaching philosophy to retired people and became fascinated by their perspective on the key issues with which philosophers have busied themselves over the centuries. This is philosophy for the layman at it's best, because it ties abstract ideas and theories to real people and their personal experiences. It is almost as if one were taking one of Ron's classes with him - he describes his students personalities and histories and then gives you their interchange in the classes he taught. But the book is more about the evolution of his own thinking on aging and how increasing experience can change one's perspective on TRUTH. The shortfall of the book is that Ron may try to do too much - we get to know some of his students and then they disappear as he embarks on his own journey and then we find ourselves in another class with different students 20 years later. He is trying to cover a lot of ideas and does it easily and well - using his various classes and experiences as backdrops upon which to paint his picture. Some times I could have stayed longer in one setting before he moved on. But I really enjoyed the book and am buying a copy for my mother in law who would have been a great character in this book. It is clear Ron Manheimer loves his subject and the people and ideas he writes about - that love comes out in his book.