Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love

by Andrew Shaffer

Overview

“Amazing stories! Incredible quotes! Sordid details! This book shows that a genius in the realm of thought can be a dummy in the land of love.” — Tom Morris, author of If Aristotle Ran General Motors

What do René Descartes,  John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Jean-Paul Sartre have in common? That’s right: they were all hopeless failures when it came to romance. Author Andrew Shaffer explores the paradox at the core of Western philosophical thought—that history’s greatest thinkers were also the most pathetic lovers to ever walk the earth. With razor-sharp wit and probing insight, Shaffer shows how it’s the philosophers’ missteps, as much as their musings, that are able to truly boggle the intellect.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061969812
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/04/2011
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Andrew Shaffer is the author of Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love and, under the pen name Fanny Merkin, Fifty Shames of Earl Grey. His writing has appeared in such diverse publications as Mental Floss and Maxim. An Iowa native, Shaffer lives in Lexington, Kentucky, a magical land of horses and bourbon.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Philosophers

Peter Abelard (1079-1142) 7

Louis Althusser (1918-1990) 14

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) 18

Aristotle (384-322 BC) 22

Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) 26

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) 31

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) 36

John Calvin (1509-1564) 41

Albert Camus (1913-1960) 45

Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) 48

Auguste Comte (1798-1857) 53

René Descartes (1596-1650) 59

John Dewey (1859-1952) 63

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) 67

Diogenes the Cynic (c. 412-323 BC) 72

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) 75

Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) 80

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) 84

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) 89

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) 93

David Hume (1711-1776) 97

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) 100

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) 104

John Locke (1632-1704) 108

Titus Lucretius (c. 99-c. 55 BC) 113

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) 116

Plato (c. 427-c. 347 BC) 120

Ayn Rand (1905-1982) 124

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) 129

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) 134

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) 138

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) 143

Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) 148

Socrates (469-399 BC) 152

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) 157

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) 162

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) 166

Timeline 173

Acknowledgments 177

Selected Bibliography 179

Permissions 193

What People are Saying About This

Neal Pollack

“A funny and oddly moving history of philosophy as tortured erotic dysfunction.”

A.J. Jacobs

“Fascinating, thought-provoking and mildly disturbing... Also, if you are considering dating an eminent philosopher, you need to buy this right now.”

William Irwin

“A fun way to learn about the lives and loves of the great thinkers.”

Tom Morris

“Amazing stories! Incredible quotes! Sordid details! This book shows that a genius in the realm of thought can be a dummy in the land of love. It’s a hilarious and provocative warning, full of cautionary tales for us all. Enjoy it and share it with someone you love!”

Clancy Martin

“Indispensable advice for all lovers—and especially for those who think they should learn about the art of love from philosophers. A wonderful summary of the musings on love by some of history’s greatest and most idiosyncratic minds.”

Martin Cohen

“[A]n entertaining romp through the seamy side of philosophy... highlighting the hypocrisy and downright ineptness of those who too often counted as our ‘greatest thinkers’ in this crucial, if so often overlooked, area of sexual politics...”