Jay Stevenson

Yes, yes, I know—but let's face it, I'm never going to read Derrida or Lacan or Hobbes cover to cover, so I gave this a whirl. I think I get Plato and Aristotle a little better after reading this, but as the book progresses and Stevenson is trying to cram ever more philosophers into a single chapter, it becomes a confusing mass of seemingly interchangeable ideas. (Or maybe the emperor really does have no clothes on.) I knew enough about feminist philosophers before starting this to know that he was really over-simplifying and leaving things out in this chapter (peril of the format, I know), but there were some issues with that chapter regardless: bell hooks is awesome, but she is not Bell Hooks, and surely Stevenson had read enough of her work before writing this guide that he knew that. The entire last chapter on New Age Philosophy was surely included as a tongue-in-cheek joke. Skimmable.… (meer)