Philosopher a Kind of Life

by Ted Honderich

Book Overview

The story of Ted Honderich, philosopher, a story of a perilous philosophical life, marked by critical examination, and a compelling personal life full of human drama. This is the story of Ted Honderich's perilous progress from boyhood in Canada to the Grote Professorship of Mind and Logic at University College London, A. J. Ayer's chair. It is compelling, candid and revealing about the beginning and the goal, and everything in between: early work...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415236975
• ISBN13: 9780415236973
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 468 Pages
• Weight: 1.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Self-centered but honest

This is the self-biography of a narcisist but conscious and honest person, who as such must be prized. It is informative, reflexive, sensitive and very well-written, with some liric pages, as in the description of his trip to Irland, where he met his second wife. About his academic and judicial strugles, one can only regret the smallness of this kind of life. And about his sexual adventures with students, I suspect this was harmless for all, except for him. I've learned something by reading this book and I recomend.

How free should Ted have been?

I have read all of Philosopher: A Kind of Life, and have some away with mixed feelings, and a mixed evaluation. I think that the book does represent a life in all its messiness and tensions, something which may not appeal to analytic minds less worldly (or sensual, or interesting) than Honderich is. On the other hand, my general picture of the man himself is one of a man who has the virtue of honesty in spades, but this has left him short of some of the other virtues. His vanity, roving eye for the women, and academic ambitiousness left me cringing throughout the book, and I do not consider myself a moralizer. Above all, he is continuously rationalizing his behavior, and hoping that you take his side because 'at least he is being honest about it.' To potential readers I would say: a compelling read, though you will find yourself in a relationship with Ted, and you might find this unhealthy.

The "Publisher's Weekly" review of this book is mistaken

I'll admit up front that I haven't read all of Honerich's memoir. But of the excerpts I've read, it has already become clear to me how misleading and shallow the "Publisher's Weekly" review (posted above) of this book is.You might expect Honderich to discuss his life in a respectable and proud way. Not so. He is completely frank and detached from his own past behaviors--as he says, it is a kind of confession. Although more of the book is in passive voice, this does not make it less exciting. Quite the contrary.Who else would, for no apparent reason other than that he thinks everything must be told, describe his one encounter with a prostitute, or his numerous relationships with women? Honderich also does a good job of describing how he beacame a philosopher, and the kind of life he leads as a professor of philosophy in the zany world of academia. This book is not the usual kind of autobiography; it's much more than that, and it's a shame that "Publisher's Weekly" didn't take the time to realize this.