Recommended and Reserved
Many of us teachers make shorter and fewer reading assignments nowadays. But I recommend many more.
Students don't seem to read as much as they used to, or maybe it's just that they've lost the knack and patience for long-form texts in the face of so much distraction from the unceasing fire-hose of short texts and videos, and games, and social media threads, and so on and on.
That perception has led me and many of my colleagues to make fewer and shorter reading assignments. I've tried to compensate for the loss by adding more and more RECOMMENDED texts, with a promise of reward in the form of exam bonus questions drawn from those non-required readings. I may be fooling myself, but at least it appeases my conscience to offer a traditional reading buffet to those who might wish to partake.
So here's the list of RECOMMENDED TEXTS I've placed on reserve for check-out at our school library.
Intro to Philosophy ("CoPhilosophy"):
How the World Thinks (HWT) by Julian Baggini - because Western philosophy is not the whole story.
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, a 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen (FL) - because the contemporary crisis of American democracy is rooted in our history.
How to Think Like Socrates, by Donald J. Robertson - because he was, as the Monty Python song says, "a lovely little thinker..."
How to Think Like Marcus Aurelius, by Donald J. Robertson - because he was a wise stoic and emperor, as close to a Philosopher-King as we've had or are likely to get.
The Philosopher Queens: the lives and legacies of philosophy's unsung women, by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting - because women have always philosophized too.
Starry Messenger: cosmic perspectives on civilization, by Neil deGrasse Tyson - because we are cosmopolitans, citizens of the cosmos.
Question Everything: A Stone Reader, eds. Catapano and Critchley - short popular essays by contemporary philosophers published in the New York Times, because philosophy is relevant to contemporary issues.
Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives by Robert Richardson - because we'll all eventually lose someone close.
Be Not Afraid of Life: In the Words of William James-companion anthology to Sick Souls Healthy Minds by John Kaag - because William James can save your life, or at least ameliorate it.
Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help by Kieran Setiya - because we'll all eventually be challenged by something hard.
Night Vision: seeing ourselves through dark moods, by Mariana Allesandri - because all is not sunshine and light.
(REQUIRED: Nigel Warburton, LITTLE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY ... Susan Neiman, WHY GROW UP... John Kaag, SICK SOULS, HEALTHY MINDS: How William James Can Save Your Life... Eric Weiner, THE SOCRATES EXPRESS: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers)
Philosophy of Happiness:
The Word of Dog: What Our Canine Companions Can Teach Us About Living a Good Life (Rowlands) 978-1324095682 - because dogs, who can teach us much about attention and the present, make me happy.
Wanderlust: A History of Walking (Solnit) 978-0140286014 - because the peripatetic life makes me happy.
Moral Ambition (Bregman) 978-0316580359 - because there's more to life than happiness, and more to happiness than pleasure and complacency.
(REQUIRED-- Happiness: A Very Short Introduction by Haybron... The Philosophy of Epicurus... The Good Life by Waldinger... Against Happiness by Flanagan et al... Four Thousand Weeks by Burkeman)
It's been disconcerting to be asked by students, in recent years, how to check books out of the library. Many of them have never bellied up to a circulation desk, or randomly roamed the stacks. I'll once again try to rectify that with a class day (Sep 4) devoted to touring the library and meeting librarians.
And I'll again call on Arthur to inspire.
