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Montaigne's last words in the Essays--the words that capture his entire project--are "sociable wisdom." Philosophy has been transformed from the "love of wisdom" to "sociable wisdom" and this transformation is, at the same time, the transformation of the human world. What is "sociable wisdom" and how has it produced this remarkable effect? Sociable wisdom overcomes the classical distinctions between leisure and work, theoretical and practical, strong and weak, masters and slaves. In the same act, the philosopher both transforms philosophy and invents society. The essay is the perfect expression of sociable wisdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is lyric philosophy? The clearest response to that question is the book-length investigation by Canadian philosopher and poet Jan Zwicky. If philosophy can be defined as thinking in love with clarity, then lyric philosophy might be roughly understood as such thinking in which clarity assumes the form of resonance. Among her paradigmatic lyric philosophers, Zwicky includes (inter alia) the aphorists Herakleitos and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Lyric is distinguished by its deep structure, which is polydimensional and integrative. Epistemically, this structure responds to the gestural root of meaning, which is ineffably manifest in the physical world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the few accounts of Beckett's engagement with Wittgenstein's philosophy have been necessarily speculative, recently archived correspondence, a companion's memoir, and the catalogue of his personal library confirm a high degree of exposure: six books by, and six about, Wittgenstein (some of these annotated). Few other authors are better represented in the library. With particidar attention to the materials in that library, this essay focuses on several related aspects of the Tractatus in order to establish the special pertinence to Beckett's postwar and later fiction of Wittgenstein's treatment of ontology, reference, ineffability, solipsism, nominalism, and ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plato's Apology is not merely an account of Socrates's trial, it is also a work of metaphilosophy, presenting Socrates's understanding of the nature and function of philosophy. This is a vital part of the text's apologetic task, for it is only with reference to Socrates's understanding of what philosophy is that we can understand, and so justify, his seemingly antisocial behavior. Plato presents to us Socrates's metaphilosophy in two ways: via what Socrates says and what he does. This twofold method of presentation is appropriate, if not essential, given the conception of philosophy that Socrates is presented as holding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the role of drama in philosophy. She notes the negative attitudes toward philosophers throughout history and discusses how speculation on the beginnings of the cosmos has been influenced by narratives and ancient poetry. She uses the theatrical production "Antigone," by Sophocles as an example of the depiction of logos in drama.

The article examines the early and late twentieth-century writings on philosophy and the crisis behind it that led to the separation between analytic and Continental tradition. Philosophy is defined as a discipline that uses rigorous forms of logic to apprehend a historical truth. In his essay "Why the Novel Matters," writer D. H. Lawrence argues that philosophers have misled people by asserting their intellectual superiority.

The article discusses the theory of the aesthetic experience of philosopher John Dewey. The philosopher considers the importance of environment to experiential health because it limits and controls the ways in how people react. Based on the Copernican revolution, the philosopher argues that the oppositions of mind and body, soul and matter and spirit and flesh have their origin. The valuable and meaningful experience through practical activity should not be mechanical and monotonous.