{"title":"The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone","authors":"Michael Kilivris","doi":"10.5860/choice.52-0774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.52-0774","url":null,"abstract":"The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone Scott Samuelson The University of Chicago Press (2015) $14USDIf anyone can rebut the people who see no practical value in philosophy, the Marco Rubios of the world, it is Scott Samuelson. Over the past couple of years Samuelson has made a name for himself bringing the ethereal ideas of philosophers down to earth for, among others, the heartland students at Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) where he teaches'. Against all odds and thus in true philosopher fashion, Samuelson genuinely believes philosophy has something useful to add to everyone's life. Hence his recent TED Talk, \"How Philosophy Can Save Your Life,\" and a 2014 article in The Atlantic entitled \"Why I Teach Plato to Plumbers\" (which just as easily could have been called \"Why I Teach Wittgenstein to Welders\"). But his most sustained commentary on the benefits of philosophy is to be found in his book, The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone. Herein Samuelson eloquently riffs on the greatest hits of philosophy, literally showing how the likes of Plato, Descartes, and Kant can and do impact the lives of real people; in this case, Samuelson's students. The result is a pleasurable, instructive, and convincing read that leaves little to be desired.Samuelson commences with American philosopher William James, using his claim that \"The deepest human life is everywhere, is eternal\" as title, epigraph, and organizing principle. Similar to James, who preached pragmatism from the perch of privilege, Samuelson, an Emory Ph.D. who sometimes moonlights as a sous-chef, approaches philosophy as if it were as mundane as punching the clock. And he reassures us that the towering figures of philosophy led \"lives pretty much like our own, with their daily routines, their little aches and pains and pleasure, and their occasional upheavals.\" With the proverbial pedestal removed, Samuelson can argue that philosophy \"belongs ... among the wrestlers and chiropractors, preschool music teachers and undertakers, soldiers and moms, chefs and divorcees, Huck and Jim-you and me, in fact.\"Samuelson's humility is authentic. Bucking the objectivity of most academic writing, he opens up and shares his own \"odyssey\" with philosophy, which he assures is \"open to anybody.\" Interestingly, the seed of philosophy sprouted for him at the age of 10 while practicing kissing techniques on a friend's pillow. Suddenly \"everything felt extremely iffy,\" whence came an avalanche of existential questions about the wherefore and whither of being, self, cosmos, and tragedy. Six years later Samuelson would discover Aquinas' \"five ways\" (of proving God's existence) in an Iowa public library, effectively sealing his fate: \"Aquinas ... was tempting me into the founding of the universe. …","PeriodicalId":170676,"journal":{"name":"The Community College Enterprise","volume":"144 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122551783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms","authors":"A. Thomson","doi":"10.4135/9781506314686","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4135/9781506314686","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":170676,"journal":{"name":"The Community College Enterprise","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124397108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}