HOW DO IDEAS FROM GREAT THINKERS IMPACT MY LIFE EVERYDAY?1. Philosophy arms you to make wise, practical decisions in a complex world. Philosophy simply means "love of wisdom."Making wise choices in everyday life is Philosophy.However wisdom should not be confused with cleverness.2. Descartes: If you’re awake, you’re thinking, and therefore you must exist. I THINK THEREFORE I AM.3. Freud: The morning routine is a fierce psychological competition between our ego and superego. The ego represents the part of an individual's mind that aims mainly at living comfortably in routines without excessive stress or surprises.The super ego demands we interprets what the rest of the world demands from us.4. Nietzsche: Abandon the herd’s fantasies, master your destiny and join the ranks of supermen.5. Marx: Work is wage slavery. You have nothing to lose but your chains.6. Weber: If you work hard and live simply, you will become wealthy.HOW CAN PHILOSOPHY RELIEVE MY SUFFERING AND CONNECT ME TO THE NATURE?7. Learn from French feminists: Let go of your gender and live in peace with your partner.8. Buddhism: Meditation releases you from suffering.9. Jung: Dreaming connects you to the collective unconscious, the world’s soul. Judging a book by it's cover would be fair in this case. Here we have a philosophical jaunt through the day, fueled by a provocative web of associations spun by author Robert Rowland Smith, running the gamut from psychological observations to tie-ins with Eastern religions. Smith has a good use of language and does a good job of making philosophy vivid, which could be a major plus, depending on what you want out of a book like this. I personally found it lacking as far as lasting impressions go (you're kidding yourself if you think someone uninitiated with Foucault or Deleuze is going to meaningfully make hay with a throwaway reference to going to the gym as a form of social control), but there's no denying that the author does have a familiarity with this subject. And there is certainly much value in what he's trying to do here: expand the scope of what “philosophy” encompasses by using in a reference to our daily routine. I think of it as a philosophy of lifestyle, and that in itself is an interesting field. In addition, Smith makes reference to One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is heartwarming since that's one of my favorite books and I liked getting his spin on it. However, I have developed a socratic notion that an argument is best addressed by mentally wrestling with it. So while Smith may point to some interesting ideas, there are certain questions that need to be asked of the pointer.If Philosophy, pretentious capital P and all, concerns ourselves with the understanding and the embodying of ideas, isn't it a little presumptuous on our part to think we can really absorb these great ideas by way of an intermediary selling a bite-sized version of it? And it bears repeating: Smith makes some provocative philosophical suggestions. But if you're going into this book without having a vast understanding of Philosophy (I don't, I minored in it), but looking to walk away feeling like you've really absorbed some profound stuff, you're going to be disappointed. And if you do have a vast understanding of philosophy, you'll probably be more interested in picking apart Smith's game of play by assocation than in reveling in his brilliance. In other words this book conceptualizes, but does so quickly and haphazardly. The risk of such an approach is that we do not do justice to the men and women who created these ideas, for in shrinking these ideas down to the scope of being able to “understand” them through the prism of our oft mundane routine we basically do violence to the way philosophy actually functions.To conclude, what one very important philosophical idea does the book tellingly leave out? A reminder that in the rush of our days, the thing we neglect most is our ability to dwell on an idea.
What do You think about Doručak Sa Sokratom (2011)?
The style of writing can be hard to follow, but the content is good and keeps your interest.
—Iliana
An amazing interactive journey through everyday philosophy and even psychology!
—Pavfyra
I'm not sure why this book disappointed me so.
—Shani
