Serious Larks
The Philosophy of Ted Cohen
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Serious Larks
The Philosophy of Ted Cohen
Ted Cohen was an original and captivating essayist known for his inquisitive intelligence, wit, charm, and a deeply humane feel for life. For Cohen, writing was a way of discovering, and also celebrating, the depth and complexity of things overlooked by most professional philosophers and aestheticians—but not by most people. Whether writing about the rules of baseball, of driving, or of Kant’s Third Critique; about Hitchcock, ceramics, or jokes, Cohen proved that if you study the world with a bemused but honest attentiveness, you can find something to philosophize about more or less anywhere.
This collection, edited and introduced by philosopher Daniel Herwitz, brings together some of Cohen’s best work to capture the unique style that made Cohen one of the most beloved philosophers of his generation. Among the perceptive, engaging, and laugh-out-loud funny reflections on movies, sports, art, language, and life included here are Cohen’s classic papers on metaphor and his Pushcart Prize–winning essay on baseball, as well as memoir, fiction, and even poetry. Full of free-spirited inventiveness, these Serious Larks would be equally at home outside Thoreau’s cabin on the waters of Walden Pond as they are here, proving that intelligence, sensitivity, and good humor can be found in philosophical writing after all.
This collection, edited and introduced by philosopher Daniel Herwitz, brings together some of Cohen’s best work to capture the unique style that made Cohen one of the most beloved philosophers of his generation. Among the perceptive, engaging, and laugh-out-loud funny reflections on movies, sports, art, language, and life included here are Cohen’s classic papers on metaphor and his Pushcart Prize–winning essay on baseball, as well as memoir, fiction, and even poetry. Full of free-spirited inventiveness, these Serious Larks would be equally at home outside Thoreau’s cabin on the waters of Walden Pond as they are here, proving that intelligence, sensitivity, and good humor can be found in philosophical writing after all.
240 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2018
Literature and Literary Criticism: Humor
Philosophy: Aesthetics, General Philosophy
Reviews
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 North by Northwest
Chapter 2 Metaphor and the Cultivation of Intimacy
Chapter 3 Notes on Metaphor
Chapter 4 What’s Special about Photography?
Chapter 5 Sports and Art
Chapter 6 Clay for Contemplation
Chapter 7 There Are No Ties at First Base
Chapter 8 A Driving Examination
Chapter 9 Objects of Appreciation
Chapter 10 And What If They Don’t Laugh?
Chapter 11 Liking What’s Good: Why Should We?
Chapter 12 Language Games
Chapter 13 Ethics Class
Chapter 14 Kings and Salesmen
Chapter 15 One Way to Think about Popular Art
Chapter 16 Caring
Chapter 17 The Idea of Absolute Gin
Chapter 18 Playing by the Rules
Chapter 19 Freedom from Rules
Acknowledgments
Index
Chapter 1 North by Northwest
Chapter 2 Metaphor and the Cultivation of Intimacy
Chapter 3 Notes on Metaphor
Chapter 4 What’s Special about Photography?
Chapter 5 Sports and Art
Chapter 6 Clay for Contemplation
Chapter 7 There Are No Ties at First Base
Chapter 8 A Driving Examination
Chapter 9 Objects of Appreciation
Chapter 10 And What If They Don’t Laugh?
Chapter 11 Liking What’s Good: Why Should We?
Chapter 12 Language Games
Chapter 13 Ethics Class
Chapter 14 Kings and Salesmen
Chapter 15 One Way to Think about Popular Art
Chapter 16 Caring
Chapter 17 The Idea of Absolute Gin
Chapter 18 Playing by the Rules
Chapter 19 Freedom from Rules
Acknowledgments
Index
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