Serious Larks

The Philosophy of Ted Cohen

By: Ted Cohen, Daniel Herwitz (Editor)

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Paperback | 13 April 2018 | Edition Number 1

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240 Pages

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2.27 x 1.61 x 0.16

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Ted Cohen was an original and captivating essayist known for his inquisitive intelligence, wit, charm, and a deeply humane feel for life. For Cohen, writing was a way of discovering, and also celebrating, the depth and complexity of things overlooked by most professional philosophers and aestheticiansâ"but not by most people. Whether writing about the rules of baseball, of driving, or of Kantâs Third Critique; about Hitchcock, ceramics, or jokes, Cohen proved that if you study the world with a bemused but honest attentiveness, you can find something to philosophize about more or less anywhere.

This collection, edited and introduced by philosopher Daniel Herwitz, brings together some of Cohenâs best work to capture the unique style that made Cohen one of the most beloved philosophers of his generation. Among the perceptive, engaging, and laugh-out-loud funny reflections on movies, sports, art, language, and life included here are Cohenâs classic papers on metaphor and his Pushcart Prizeâ"winning essay on baseball, as well as memoir, fiction, and even poetry. Full of free-spirited inventiveness, these Serious Larks would be equally at home outside Thoreauâs cabin on the waters of Walden Pond as they are here, proving that intelligence, sensitivity, and good humor can be found in philosophical writing after all.

Industry Reviews

"I met Ted Cohen once at The University of Michigan where he was giving a wonderfully funny and wonderfully philosophical talk on jokes. Unusual subject for a philosopher, I thought. Now reading Serious Larks, I see how unusual a philosopher he was, whether dealing with jokes and the myriad ways we can find to not enjoy them, or revealing the kindred joys we take in both art and sports. Cohen's philosophy is squarely rooted in the lived and lively life he led, and you would be wise to follow his lead."--Bob Mankoff, Cartoon and Humor Editor for Esquire
"It is a very rare pleasure to read Cohen's essays. He was a true original who alwaystook a fresh approach to a topic, and these essays are gems, bringing together in one place the distinctive combination that is Cohen: the sharpest philosophical acuity, a wonderful writing style-lucid, invariably clear, rich in implication (and thus they make one think), a sense of adventure and discovery (often about things one took for granted), and-perhaps most distinctively Cohenesque, a sense of companionship and humane presence."--Garry L. Hagberg, Bard College

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