The Reason of Things: Living with Philosophy Book

Author, journalist and philosopher AC Grayling's The Reason of Things: Living With Philosophy is a collection of short, self-contained essays about aspects of ethics, ideas and culture which, like its predecessor volume The Meaning of Things, aims to apply considerations of philosophy to concrete situations in life. The pieces are arranged under seven general categories: Moral Matters, Public Culture, Community and Society, Anger and War, Grief and Remembrance, Nature and Naturalness.Eloquent and edifying, Grayling rightfully belongs to the dying tradition of his heroes, the great English essayists Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt. He is fully aware that the versatility and plasticity of the essay form means that they can "entertain, instruct, surprise, provoke and delight" and this seems a fair description of what one can expect in reading Grayling's pieces. Literary quality--which he describes as "either a natural or a conscious application of the power and beauty of language to effect choicer communication"--is foremost in his mind whether he is writing about meat, marriage, sex, anger, liberty, pluralism or slavery. He is a progressive liberal philosopher and a classical scholar who draws on the wisdom of ancient Rome and Greece to illuminate his subjects. His natural enemies are religion in all its forms, moralisers, and any kind of jargon-ridden academicism which he sees as the wrecker of the values and virtues of liberal education. If one were to make a complaint about The Reason of Things it is only that consuming it in one sitting is like filling up on starters and bypassing the main course. However, the final section of the book "Reading and Thinking" includes occasional pieces that began as book reviews, an autobiographical piece "Becoming Philosophical" and a delightful piece on "The Essay" and it is here that one learns what makes Grayling tick-–if you didn't already know. These final pieces leave one wishing Grayling would write a book treating fewer topics at greater length. --Larry BrownRead More