How Philosophy Can Save Your Life: 10 Ideas That Matter Most - Softcover

McCarty, Marietta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585427462 ISBN 13: 9781585427468

Publisher: TarcherPerigee, 2009

Synopsis

Discover how great philosophers can help you live a more purposeful and peaceful life.

This inspiring new book from the bestselling author of Little Big Minds reveals how the heartbeats of philosophy- clear thinking, quiet reflection, and good conversation- are essential ingredients in a well-lived life. Full of great discussion ideas and activities you can do with a group, How Philosophy Can Save Your Life is framed around ten "big ideas"-themes that, according to McCarty, are necessary to grasp if one wants to live a truly fulfilling life. They are:

1. Simplicity (philosophers include Epicurus and Charlotte Joko Beck)
2. Communication (philosophers include bell hooks and Karl Jaspers)
3. Perspective (philosophers include Bertrand Russell and Mary Wollstonecraft)
4. Flexibility (philosophers include Socrates, Plato and Alan Watts)
5. Empathy (philosophers include the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King, Jr.)
6. Individuality (philosophers include Jean-Paul Sartre and Elizabeth Spelman)
7. Belonging (philosophers include Albert Camus and Rita Manning)
8. Serenity (philosophers include Epictetus and Lao Tzu)
9. Possibility (philosophers include John Stuart Mill and Simone de Beauvoir)
10. Joy (philosophers include Shunryu Suzuki and Jane Addams)

So join the greatest thinkers of all time to discover the ideas that will help you live a happier, healthier life!

About this title

About the Author:

Marietta McCarty is the author of Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy with Kids (a New York Times Extended List bestseller) and The Philosopher's Table: How to Start Your Philosophy Dinner Club - Monthly Conversation, Music, and Recipes. For over two decades,she taught philosophy at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. Now a writer by trade, she travels around the country speaking and hosting events about philosophy to groups of all ages.

Review:

"Self-help always becomes even more fascinating when it's backed by a little scholarship. In 'How Philosophy Can Save Your Life: 10 Ideas That Matter Most,' Marietta McCarty assistant professor of philosophy at Piedmont Virginia Community College and best-selling author of 'Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy with Kids' reveals how studying the greatest thinkers of our time can change your life for the better.

McCarty divides her book into 10 chapters, each dealing with one of the big ideas she feels are necessary for a good life: simplicity, communication, perspective, flexibility, empathy, individuality, belonging, serenity, possibility, and joy. Full of personal anecdotes, each chapter explores the topic at hand with the help of two or more philosophers.

For instance, when it comes to perspective, you can broaden yours by taking a tip from Mary Wollstonecraft, who saw past the mores of her society and refused to limit herself to conventional women's roles. Instead of being wary of change, you can learn to be flexible, embracing the new and living in the now as Alan Watts advised.

McCarty is spirited and funny, and she gives you help in implementing all you're learning by providing thoughtful discussion questions, and even a little homework under amusing topic headlines like Listen and Hum, Recite and Write, Read and Talk, Watch and Reflect, and Get Up and Do. Want to find serenity in your life? Get out and garden. Need a new appreciation of joy? Go to a place 'that makes your heart sing' or listen to Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' to reflect on how each season is musically exhilarating.

McCarty's devotion to philosophy is obvious, and her tone is so conversational that it's nearly impossible not to get enthusiastic too. 'Entertaining new ideas can transform lifestyles' she says, and this book - push-ups for your mind - most definitely makes you see and understand your world and yourself differently."
- Carolyn Leavitt, Boston Sunday Globe

"If your book club likes to talk about ideas more than plotlines, this optimistic and pragmatic how-to should be next on your list. In each of 10 chapters, McCarty explains a 'big idea,' such as Flexibility or Possibility, then offers discussion questions and meditative exercises (spend time with water to understand Serenity). The 4 philosophers she quotes and the artists whose works she urges you to sample are surprisingly diverse. Cat Power has as much to offer as Camus. McCarty's enthusiasm for human achievement and potential is contagious. She encourages fun and sociable self- improvement-enlightenment for the yoga-averse."
- Sonya Sobieski, Psychology Today

About this edition

• Publisher: TarcherPerigee
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1585427462
• ISBN 13: 9781585427468
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 330