Ten high-level meetings with English-speaking philosophers – nine Americans and one Australian – who have left profound marks on their intellectual field: here is the program proposed by the columnist and thinker Normand Baillargeon, who reproduces in this work interviews from various angles . A great seduction through ideas – provided you are well equipped.
Collected between 1994 and 2010 (certain passages, dated, should be placed in their temporal context), these conversations with big names in the discipline (Quine, Chomsky, Singer, etc.) cover broad horizons, major philosophical trends and paradigms to a range of social and political issues very anchored in reality: religion, feminism, global warming, armed conflicts, mass media, and even humor, in a final chapter in apotheosis which makes you smile, although the question be dissected with the greatest seriousness.
But before reaching this final, loose section, the tone and words that begin the essay prove to be much more demanding for the reader. The first to enter the scene being Putnam, Dennett and Quine, the questions plunge us bluntly into the depths of analytic philosophy. The reader then realizes that he will face high-flying dissertations; and as such, the author proves to be the perfect interlocutor to rise to the height of these giants.
Because many concepts, trends, references or names will not be explained to the reader who is new to the subject; and even the initiated could sometimes lose their footing and call on Google to help clarify certain passages. However, footnotes occasionally constitute saving crutches, while various boxes (very welcome, but too rare) detail certain theories, experiments or analogies, such as that of “The Chinese Room”.
In short, the first part of the book may give the impression that Parlons philosophie is aimed first and foremost at an informed, even seasoned, readership. Placing this trio of prestigious thinkers at the head of the gondola is certainly a justifiable choice, but not the most marketable, because some readers, fearing a way of the cross, might be tempted to drop their bags along the way. Which would be a shame, since the following sections of interviews, including those focused on social, ethical and political issues, seemed to us much less academic and much more digestible.
One big name doesn’t wait for the other: Noam Chomsky discusses academic activism, passing the baton to Michael Walzer for a fascinating analysis of the ethics of international conflict, including his approach to “The Just War.” We appreciate the fact that the author, in his questions, summarizes the theories and advances of his guests, or encourages them to do so. With this same effort, we see things more clearly in the comments of Nussbaum (notably on the condition of women, democracy or the philosophy of emotions), of Herman on the subject of the media and propaganda, or even of Singer on animal rights. , presented later in the essay.
We must take advantage of the fact that the chapters of Let’s Talk Philosophy do not form an inextricable whole: nothing prevents us from picking and choosing according to our fields of interest. Even more nourishing North American cultural tidbits for budding philosophers whose training has centered on traditional European thinkers.
