Summary of Peter Catapano & Simon Critchley's The Stone Reader

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 This book is about what philosophers are and who cares about them. It’s a collection of essays and arguments by The New York Times’ philosophy series, The Stone.

#2 There is a lot of philosophy being done. It’s being done by people who care about it and are willing to defend it. It’s not going anywhere any time soon.

#3 The Stone is a collection of essays by professional philosophers. It is not a textbook, but an anthology of contemporary essays and arguments that we hope will engage readers and reward many readings.

#4 Philosophy is not going anywhere any time soon. The Stone is a collection of essays by professional philosophers that aims to engage readers and reward many readings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Oct 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350040135

IRB Media

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Insights on Peter Catapano & Simon Critchley's The Stone Reader

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The questions of who is a philosopher and why we should care about them are central to explaining The New York Times’ philosophy series, The Stone. In America, where the evangelical overlords of material productivity still hover, any sort of intense thoughtfulness is considered a punishable offense.

#2

Despite a robust global appetite for cat videos, pop music, and porn, millions of people care about, study, consume, and practice philosophy.

#3

The Stone is an ongoing series that was launched in 2010 as a part of the online Opinion report of The New York Times. It features the writing of contemporary philosophers and other thinkers on issues both timely and timeless.

#4

I was given the opportunity to develop and edit a number of online opinion pieces, which featured the writing of nonjournalists. These pieces covered a variety of topics and themes, and were generally well-received by readers.

#5

A philosopher is anyone who thinks about existence and tries to explain it. The person seated next to you on the subway might be a philosopher. Ask him what he thinks, and then duck in case he’s had enough of those who think that one has to turn philosophy into sticky treacle before a spark of interest is sparked.

#6

The Stone, which publishes philosophical essays, tries to abide by a few basic principles. It does not presume editorial authority and allows the writers to say what they want, as long as their facts are clear and their reasoning sound.

#7

The Stone is a philosophy magazine that mixes media commentary with philosophy. It has a license to tackle any subject, and its methods are similar to those of journalism.

#8

Philosophy is a notoriously self-reflexive discipline. It begins with the question of what philosophy is, and it uses critical techniques of argumentation to show that those who know are often advancing questionable claims. But this does not imply that the philosopher himself or herself possesses knowledge or wisdom.

#9

Philosophy is both old and new, and it is able to adapt to the demands of the surrounding world. It is not simply a professional or narrowly academic pursuit, but a way of life that can allow us to raise again the question of our significance and the possible pursuits of happiness.

#10

A philosopher is defined as someone who is silly. But in reality, the philosopher is the one who is compelled to talk about the things at his feet, which makes him appear stupid. The philosopher’s clumsiness in worldly affairs makes him appear stupid or gives the impression of plain silliness.

#11

The philosopher takes time, even when they have no time. The lawyer has no time, or for whom time is money, whereas the philosopher takes time. The freedom of the philosopher consists in either moving freely from topic to topic or simply spending years returning to the same topic out of perplexity, fascination, and curiosity.

#12

The history of philosophy is full of blasphemy against the gods, and this has made philosophers politically suspicious. However, the opposite happens when the non-philosopher is obliged to give an account of justice in itself or happiness and misery in general.

#13

The history of philosophy is a history of the distinction between the profession of philosophy and the multitude of interests that philosophers have outside of it. As the word philosophy began to be associated with science, many curiosity-driven activities were downgraded to the status of mere hobbies.

#14

Over the past few hundred years, philosophers have tried to overcome their bad reputation for curiosity by calling themselves scientists. But while it is good that there are now helminthologists who can devote all their time to worms, philosophy has lost something that once helped to fuel it: a curiosity about the world in all its detail.

#15

The history of philosophy is a difficult task to complete if it is not approached in the right way. It is important for historians of philosophy to resist the demand for their work to be relevant to current issues.

#16

The term erudite is now used in some philosophical circles as a sort of backhanded compliment. It means that the compliment recipient cannot argue with you, so instead they will talk about history trivia.

#17

The situation of the philosopher who is faced with a choice between betraying his beliefs and dying for them is what is called a limit situation. This limit concerns not only the philosopher involved, but also philosophy itself.

#18

There is a limit to how far philosophy can go. It must turn into something else if it is not to lose face. Death is such a terrifying event, and the fear of it so universal, that to invite it by way of faithfulness to one’s ideas is something that fascinates and disturbs at the same time.

#19

The Western definition of philosophy is that it is an intense practice of death. The possibility of one’s dying in relation to one’s thinking lies at the heart of the Western definition of philosophy.

#20

The story of Socrates and Hypatia is just one example of how the media has shaped the perception of martyrs. The actual experience of dying for a cause is rarely pure, but is always part reality and part fiction.

#21

The foundationalist conception of philosophy is that it is the foundation of our everyday beliefs. But there are other ways that philosophy can be of practical significance. For example, religious believers are often troubled by the existence of horrendous evils in a world they believe was created by an all-good God.

#22

We must defend our beliefs against objections, and we must clarify what our beliefs mean or logically entail. This requires careful conceptual distinctions, such as between direct and indirect results of actions, or between a morality of intrinsically wrong actions and a morality of consequences.

#23

The pursuit of knowledge is a central tenant of philosophy. It is through the pursuit of knowledge that philosophers are able to debunk popular opinions about virtues, and find the essence, necessary property or ineliminable trait that makes particular acts pious or just.

#24

Allegory is a story that