Full Description
Like war and politics, philosophy is too important to be left to professionals. Oh Wait—Now I Get It illustrates this basic truth by tackling a broad spectrum of issues, which include: history, religion, government, sex, family, and death. In fact, the entire contemporary cultural scene from the perspective of a thoughtful amateur philosopher is brought forth within this book. Recalling Neitzsche's dictum that all philosophy is also confession, Professor Peter Heinegg begins with some autobiographical pieces on his background, which include seven years in Jesuit seminaries and doctoral studies at Harvard. He then offers approximately three-dozen brief, pointed, and witty essays that focus on present-day issues, but draw upon a lifetime of reading, teaching, and writing about the great literary and philosophical classics.
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
Part 2 True Confessions
Chapter 3 Sisyphus Shriven—Moments of Absurdity in Early Adolescence
Chapter 4 Intimations of Mortality from Practically Everything in Sight
Chapter 5 From the Cloister to the Classroom: Life in the Academy
Part 6 Religion
Chapter 7 Why the Bible is All Wet: Reflections on Religious Metaphors
Chapter 8 All God's Children—Grow Up!
Chapter 9 Thou Shalt Not Kill...Animals?
Chapter 10 The Disappearance of Hell
Part 11 The College Scene
Chapter 12 The "F" Word
Chapter 13 Friedrich Nietzsche, Frat House Guru
Chapter 14 The Poverty of Literacy
Chapter 15 College and the Denial of Death
Part 16 Politics
Chapter 17 Clarence King: A Great American Failure
Chapter 18 Here Comes Democracy (Duck!)
Chapter 19 The High Price of Winning the Civil War
Chapter 20 A Woman's Place is at the Helm
Chapter 21 Liddy and Macho Politics
Chapter 22 American Graffiti
Part 23 Life (and Related Stuff)
Chapter 24 Pass the Dramamine
Chapter 25 Is Life Worth Living? The Greeks Thought Not
Chapter 26 Sick, Sick, Sick: Thoughts for Valentine's Day
Chapter 27 Sartorial Dimorphism—Enough Already
Chapter 28 When you're Hot, You're Hot—Unfortunately
Chapter 29 Philosopher in the Playground: Notes on the Meaning of Sport
Chapter 30 Blissful Ignorance
Chapter 31 Living with the American Rabble
Part 32 Family
Chapter 33 The Wisdom of Lilliput
Chapter 34 Anthropophagy—A Family Affair
Chapter 35 All (But Absolutely All) in the Family
Chapter 36 Keep Those Home Fires Burning
Part 37 Nature
Chapter 38 Should we follow Nature? Mill Versus Montaigne
Chapter 39 The Beast in Us, The Best in Us
Chapter 40 Mother Nature Calls Collect
Part 41 Death
Chapter 42 Dr. Lucretius and Dr. Nuland: Prescriptions for Mortalism
Chapter 43 The Religion of Wellness
Chapter 44 The Death of the Cat
Part 45 Conclusion
Chapter 46 What's It Worth to You?
