Breakfast with Socrates: An Extraordinary (Philosophical) Journey Through Your Ordinary Day by Robert Rowland Smith is an excellent general overview of how philosophy plays a role in everybody's everyday existence and how the effect of philosophy is often overlooked. Smith's close examination of several typical daily occurrences help to illuminate how people utilize philosophy everyday without even realizing it.
Structure of Breakfast with Socrates
Smith organizes his book into eighteen chapters that correspond to what many people do or experience in an average day. Each chapter thoroughly explains the topic at hand by diving in with a prime example then examining it through the lens of philosophy and some famous, or in some cases, not so famous philosophers. Some chapters begin with an idea and an influential philosopher then proceed with supporting examples from other lesser known philosophers. Other chapters begin similarly but then provide thought-provoking counterexamples from other philosophers.
Some highlights of Breakfast with Socrates are:
- Chapter 2 - Getting Ready
- Chapter 4 - Being at Work
- Chapters 6 - Having Lunch with Your Parent
- Chapter 12 - Reading a Book
The above list is not to say that the remaining chapters of Smith's book are not good, for the entirety of his book is, indeed, very good, but the chapters listed above are particularly easy to understand, easy to read and entertaining.
Smith doesn't shy away from taking on some of the more complicated facets of philosophy such as Saussure's exploration of how similar sounding words can indicate very different things and ideas and how this draws on Plato's idea of an ideal object versus the physical object versus physical objects that are the same, yet different. Smith's talent is in making all of these complicated philosophical ideas applicable to what people experience everyday and after reading Breakfast with Socrates someone may indeed view his or her world a bit differently given this new information.
Recommended Reading
Breakfast with Socrates: An Extraordinary (Philosophical) Journey Through Your Ordinary Day is suitable for everyone from high school students and college students wondering what philosophy really is and why it's important anyways, to professors and philosophers alike looking for a fresh approach to their discipline.
Please note, however, that there is a chapter about sex that may be inappropriate for some high school students. The chapter is not explicit, contains only one four-letter word, and examines the idea of sex, the relationship between sex and desire, and the purpose of pornography and how these can effect the emotional relationships that people have. Before encouraging a high school student to read Smith's book it would be wise for a parent or teacher to read the book first.
More Great Philosophy Books
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
- Plato's Republic
- The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
- Criticisms: Major Statements edited by Charles Kaplan and William Davis Anderson
Publication Information
Smith, Robert Rowland. Breakfast with Socrates: An Extraordinary (Philosophical) Journey Through Your Ordinary Day. 237 pages. Free Press (2009). ISBN: 978-1-4391-4867-9.
Tracey Carter - Tracey holds a B.A. in English from Hood College and is an avid reader, educator, blogger, and aspiring librarian.
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