Mirrors of the Mind: Reflecting on Philosophers' Autobiographies

Overview

Readers drawn to philosophy often find the standard histories and introductions distant from their personal lives. Many of us are more curious about how historically influential thinkers actually lived. Could there be a connection between the general truths that a school of philosophy asserts about the universally human and the particular flesh-and-blood truths of the philosopher's life?
Delving into the newly identified genre of the philosophical autobiography, Dr. Ronald J. Manheimer's Mirrors of the Mind takes both the neophyte and the initiated on a unique literary and philosophical journey through the works of important thinkers who have changed the world or, at least, how we perceive it. This guided tour of the life of the mind covers nine self-reflective narratives ranging from fourth century Augustine's Confessions to 20th century Simone de Beauvoir's The Prime of Life.
The focus is not highbrow gossip or exposés about a philosopher's life, but rather a search for the creative embodiment of thinking and being - the architecture of the soul. At its best, the philosophical autobiography helps us to see great minds as real people who wonder and suffer, analyze and romanticize, communicate both bliss and darkest despair. These works demonstrate that analytical judgment may go hand in hand with acts of imagination, that cool reason may intersect with an impulsive leap of faith.
Through such authors the reader shares exemplary instances of a thinker's emerging sense of purpose, engagement with the critical issues of the day, threads of continuity through a life of change, and the quest to integrate ideas and experiences. Getting to know philosophers through their life stories helps to dispel the impression that great thinkers lived only in their heads. For readers who wish to explore the subject further, each chapter ends with suggested reflexive writing exercises and philosophical fieldwork.

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