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Princeton University Library Catalog
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American philosophy : a love story / John Kaag.
Author
Kaag, John, 1979-
[Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Εdition
First edition.
Published/Created
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016.
©2016
Description
x, 259 pages ; 22 cm
Availability
Copies in the Library
Location
Call Number
Status
Location Service
Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks
B851 .K33 2016
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Details
Subject(s)
Philosophy, American
—
Miscellanea
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Library of Congress genre(s)
Autobiographies
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Biographies
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Trivia and miscellanea
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Summary note
"John Kaag is a dispirited young philosopher at sea in his marriage and his career when he stumbles upon West Wind, a ruin of an estate in the hinterlands of New Hampshire that belonged to the eminent Harvard philosopher William Ernest Hocking. Hocking was one of the last true giants of American philosophy and a direct intellectual descendent of William James, the father of American philosophy and psychology, with whom Kaag feels a deep kinship. It is James's question "Is life worth living?" that guides this remarkable book. The books Kaag discovers in the Hocking library are crawling with insects and full of mold. But he resolves to restore them, as he immediately recognizes their importance. Not only does the library at West Wind contain handwritten notes from Whitman and inscriptions from Frost, but there are startlingly rare first editions of Hobbes, Descartes, and Kant. As Kaag begins to catalog and read through these priceless volumes, he embarks on a thrilling journey that leads him to the life-affirming tenets of American philosophy-- self-reliance, pragmatism, and transcendence-- and to a brilliant young Kantian who joins him in the restoration of the Hocking books. Part intellectual history, part memoir, American Philosophy is ultimately about love, freedom, and the role that wisdom can play in turning one's life around"-- Amazon.com.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-245) and index.
Contents
Maybe
Hell. In a dark wood, a library ; Finding West Wind ; "Pestilence-stricken multitude" ; Fraud and self-reliance ; Walden and frozen lakes
Purgatory. The task of salvation ; Divine madness ; On the mountain ; The will to believe ; Evolutionary love
Redemption. A philosophy of loyalty ; On the steps ; Women in the attic ; I knew a phoenix ; East Wind ; The mystery of being
The cult of the dead.
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ISBN
0374154481 ((cloth))
9780374154486 ((cloth))
LCCN
2016001908
OCLC
932060334
Other standard number
40026554439
Statement on language in description
Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage.
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