Where do philosophical insights come from? Where does the inspiration originate that leads to the ideas with which philosophers understand and explain our world? Manfred Geier’s answer is startling and provocative: it is often in single, definable moments that philosophers have new ideas that lead to fresh ways of solving intellectual and existential problems. In this astute and accessible new book, Geier explains his thesis using seven case studies, tracing the genesis of important philosophical ideas along the way.
Presenting examples from the work of Parmenides, Descartes, Rousseau, Kant, Hamann, Nietzsche and Popper, Geier demonstrates how close the relationship between their work and their daily lives really was. His book gives fascinating insights into the lives of these philosophers and shows how difficult circumstances often led to groundbreaking insights that would become the basis of important philosophical works.
Nietzsche once stated about being inspired by Zarathustra: “You take it, you don’t ask who’s giving it to you; the thought lights up like a flash of lightning.” This book describes brillant moments of human thought that each came to define an era.
