Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers

"Taylor — director of the 2007 documentary Zizek! — takes philosophy out of the academy and restores it to its peripatetic origins by allowing the field's brightest minds to publicly ruminate on such classic themes as truth and ethics. A companion to her 2008 documentary of the same name, the book cannot convey the film's visual surprises — e.g., watching Slavoj Zizek discuss ecology in the middle of a London garbage dump and Peter Singer musing on consumerism in Times Square — but where the film winnowed 90-minute interviews into 10 minutes of conversation, the book contains the complete conversations: Kwame Anthony Appiah expounds on cosmopolitanism in an airport; Martha Nussbaum ponders justice; Cornel West hitches a ride with Taylor through Manhattan and delivers an electrifying discussion on his philosophy of the blues. The subjects are unfailingly erudite, charismatic and surprisingly funny (Zizek, in particular, delights in needling Taylor for her 'liberal, vegan, hippie' tendencies). It is regrettable that Taylor does not challenge her subjects more — she is too often the earnest and assenting graduate student — but she shines in her introduction, which is both apologia and agenda for philosophy's future. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

For this volume and the accompanying film, author and filmmaker Taylor interviewed eight philosophers from varied geographies, cultures, and intellectual traditions who are known to be concerned primarily with social and ethical issues. Here are Cornel West on truth, Avital Ronell on meaning, Peter Singer on ethics, Kwame Anthony Appiah on cosmopolitanism, Martha Nussbaum on justice, Michael Hardt on revolution, Slavoj Zizek on ecology, and Judith Butler on interdependence. Profiles of the philosophers are included, but no index. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)