Driving with Plato: The Meaning of Life's Milestones

Rowland Smith (Breakfast with Socrates) attempts, as in his previous book, to demonstrate the relevance of philosophy to our everyday lives and our humblest and profoundest moments%E2%80%94starting school, having children, retiring. He shows us what Sartre can tell us about birth, Althusser and Rousseau on education, Derrida on cheating on exams, Isaiah Berlin on passing a driving test. By dint of a remarkably smooth and inviting style, the author generally overcomes the contrived nature of the book's structure and does offer genuinely novel ways of thinking, not only about our everyday life but also about philosophy. A remarkably varied and eclectic introduction to the great philosophers and a defense of their continuing relevance to our everyday lives. (June)