Friday Book Report: The Life of the Mind

I continue to read along my semi-self-directed way through various books on mind, from philosophical and physical perspectives, stopping off to visit evolutionary theories, cybernetics, and whatever else comes up along the road.  As a result, I have spent the last few weeks reading Hannah Arendt’s book The Life of the Mind.  It was a little like eavesdropping on the adults from the kids’ table, if the adults happened to be particularly smart and inclined to discuss big questions.

She divides her topic into two sections, thinking and willing, and traces both ideas through time.  A third section, on judging, was projected, but Arendt died before finishing it.

I have mentioned before that I enjoy philosophical writing to a point, but when that point is reached I tend to feel like I’ve just been playing a very pointless mind game.  What keeps this book from crossing that invisible line is the writing itself.  Arendt has a gift for getting the gist of things across with appropriate humor.  Take, for example, this summary of a Stoic philosopher: “Anyhow, Epictetus considered himself a philosopher and he defined philosophy’s subject matter as ‘the art of living one’s life.’ This art consisted mainly in having an argument ready for every emergency, for every situation of acute misery” (p. 74).

Anyone interested in tracing the history of thought, in digging into the implications of who we are, how we think, and what it all means will find an engaging guide and teacher in Arendt’s work.