The Stone Reader: Modern Philosophy in 133 Arguments
Peter Catapano · Simon Critchley
Dec 2015 · Ascent Audio · Narrated by Sean Pratt and Marguerite Gavin
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26 hr 29 min
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About this audiobook
The Stone Reader provides an unparalleled overview of contemporary philosophy.
Once solely the province of ivory-tower professors and college classrooms, contemporary philosophy was finally emancipated from its academic closet in 2010, when The Stone was launched in The New York Times. First appearing as an online series, the column quickly attracted millions of readers through its accessible examination of universal topics like the nature of science, consciousness and morality, while also probing more contemporary issues such as the morality of drones, gun control and the gender divide.
The Stone Reader presents 133 meaningful and influential essays from the series, placing nearly the entirety of modern philosophical discourse in the listener's reach . The audiobook, divided into four broad sections-Philosophy, Science, Religion and Morals, and Society-opens with a series of questions about the scope, history and identity of philosophy: What are the practical uses of philosophy? Does the discipline, begun in the West in ancient Greece with Socrates, favor men and exclude women? Does the history and study of philosophy betray a racial bias against non-white thinkers, or geographical bias toward the West?
These questions and others form a foundation for listeners as the audiobook moves to the second section, Science, where some of our most urgent contemporary philosophical debates are taking place. Will artificial intelligence compromise our morality? Does neuroscience undermine our free will? Is there is a legitimate place for the humanities in a world where science and technology appear to rule? Should the evidence for global warming change the way we live, or die?
In the book’s third section, Religion and Morals, we find philosophy where it is often at its best, sharpest and most disturbing-working through the arguments provoked by competing moral theories in the face of real-life issues and rigorously addressing familiar ethical dilemmas in a new light. Can we have a true moral life without belief in God? What are the dangers of moral relativism?
In its final part, Society, The Stone Reader returns to its origins as a forum to encourage philosophers who are willing to engage closely, critically and analytically with the affairs of the day, including economic inequality, technology and racial discrimination. In directly confronting events like the September 11 attacks, the killing of Trayvon Martin, the Sandy Hook School massacre, the essays here reveal the power of philosophy to help shape our viewpoints on nearly every issue we face today.
Once solely the province of ivory-tower professors and college classrooms, contemporary philosophy was finally emancipated from its academic closet in 2010, when The Stone was launched in The New York Times. First appearing as an online series, the column quickly attracted millions of readers through its accessible examination of universal topics like the nature of science, consciousness and morality, while also probing more contemporary issues such as the morality of drones, gun control and the gender divide.
The Stone Reader presents 133 meaningful and influential essays from the series, placing nearly the entirety of modern philosophical discourse in the listener's reach . The audiobook, divided into four broad sections-Philosophy, Science, Religion and Morals, and Society-opens with a series of questions about the scope, history and identity of philosophy: What are the practical uses of philosophy? Does the discipline, begun in the West in ancient Greece with Socrates, favor men and exclude women? Does the history and study of philosophy betray a racial bias against non-white thinkers, or geographical bias toward the West?
These questions and others form a foundation for listeners as the audiobook moves to the second section, Science, where some of our most urgent contemporary philosophical debates are taking place. Will artificial intelligence compromise our morality? Does neuroscience undermine our free will? Is there is a legitimate place for the humanities in a world where science and technology appear to rule? Should the evidence for global warming change the way we live, or die?
In the book’s third section, Religion and Morals, we find philosophy where it is often at its best, sharpest and most disturbing-working through the arguments provoked by competing moral theories in the face of real-life issues and rigorously addressing familiar ethical dilemmas in a new light. Can we have a true moral life without belief in God? What are the dangers of moral relativism?
In its final part, Society, The Stone Reader returns to its origins as a forum to encourage philosophers who are willing to engage closely, critically and analytically with the affairs of the day, including economic inequality, technology and racial discrimination. In directly confronting events like the September 11 attacks, the killing of Trayvon Martin, the Sandy Hook School massacre, the essays here reveal the power of philosophy to help shape our viewpoints on nearly every issue we face today.
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About the author
Peter Catapano has been an opinion editor at the New York Times since 2005. He was recognized for his work in pioneering blogs and series for the New York Times with a Publisher's Award in 2008.
English philosopher Simon Critchley was born on February 27, 1960. He earned his BA (1985) and PhD (1988) from the University of Essex in England. Critchley received his M.Phil. from France's University of Nice in 1987. Critchley has held university fellow, lecturer, reader, and professor positions and was the Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies at the University of Essex. Additionally, Critchley was President of the British Society for Phenomenology from 1994-1999, he held a Humboldt Research Fellowship in Philosophy at the University of Frankfurt, and was Programme Director of the Collège International de Philosophie. Since 2004 Critchley has taught philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York. Critchley's publications include "The Ethics of Deconstruction: Derrida and Levinas," the collection of essays "Ethics-Politics-Subjectivity," "Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction," "On Humour," "Things Merely Are," "Infinitely Demanding," and the New York Times bestseller "The Book of Dead Philosophers".
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