Randall E. Auxier – författare

Metaphysical Graffiti explores the philosophical themes prevalent in the music of the classic rock era. Each chapter is a detailed study of a classic rock performer or ensemble, applying insights from philosophers ancient and modern. It will appeal to an audience that was inspired by the music of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. In the words of the author, “Philosophy is in this music and it is of this music and for this music.”       The author is an accomplished professor of philosophy and also an accomplished musician, who plays in the folk rock group, Bone Dry River Band.       Among the chapters included in this book “Frenzy” applies Plato and mystery religion to the Rolling Stones, “An Everlasting Kiss: The Seduction of Wendy” applies Vico to Bruce Springsteen, “Warm Impermanence” applies Danto and Andy Warhol to David Bowie, “Magic Pages and Mythic Plants” applies Cassirer to Led Zeppelin, “A Touch of Grey: Gratefully Dead?” applies Kant and Whitehead to the Grateful Dead, “Yesterday’s Tom Sawyers” applies Suzanne Langer to Rush, and “Dead Reckoning and Tacking the Winds of Fortune and Fate” applies Machiavelli to Jimmy Buffett.

The Quantum of Explanation advances a bold new theory of how explanation ought to be understood in philosophical and cosmological inquiries. Using a complete interpretation of Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophical and mathematical writings and an interpretive structure that is essentially new, Auxier and Herstein argue that Whitehead has never been properly understood, nor has the depth and breadth of his contribution to the human search for knowledge been assimilated by his successors. This important book effectively applies Whitehead’s philosophy to problems in the interpretation of science, empirical knowledge, and nature. It develops a new account of philosophical naturalism that will contribute to the current naturalism debate in both Analytic and Continental philosophy. Auxier and Herstein also draw attention to some of the most important differences between the process theology tradition and Whitehead’s thought, arguing in favor of a Whiteheadian naturalism that is more or less independent of theological concerns. This book offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to Whitehead’s philosophy and is an essential resource for students and scholars interested in American philosophy, the philosophy of mathematics and physics, and issues associated with naturalism, explanation and radical empiricism.

The Quantum of Explanation advances a bold new theory of how explanation ought to be understood in philosophical and cosmological inquiries. Using a complete interpretation of Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophical and mathematical writings and an interpretive structure that is essentially new, Auxier and Herstein argue that Whitehead has never been properly understood, nor has the depth and breadth of his contribution to the human search for knowledge been assimilated by his successors. This important book effectively applies Whitehead’s philosophy to problems in the interpretation of science, empirical knowledge, and nature. It develops a new account of philosophical naturalism that will contribute to the current naturalism debate in both Analytic and Continental philosophy. Auxier and Herstein also draw attention to some of the most important differences between the process theology tradition and Whitehead’s thought, arguing in favor of a Whiteheadian naturalism that is more or less independent of theological concerns. This book offers a clear and comprehensive introduction to Whitehead’s philosophy and is an essential resource for students and scholars interested in American philosophy, the philosophy of mathematics and physics, and issues associated with naturalism, explanation and radical empiricism.

As Deep as It Gets: Movies and Metaphysics is a witty and light-hearted introduction to philosophy through a deep study of some well-known movies and TV shows: Pulp Fiction, South Park, The Princess Bride, The Wizard of Oz, Super 8, The Twilight Zone, House of Cards, Inception, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, His Dark Materials, Sergio Leone’s westerns, and Alfred Hitchock’s Lifeboat.

All the major branches of philosophy are covered, including aesthetics, political philosophy, metaphysics, and the theory of knowledge. The author’s approach is “Continental,” with some American idealism and process philosophy in support. The emphasis is on the primacy of time as a key to interpreting human experience. In that regard, existentialism, phenomenology, and process philosophy are better guides to thinking about time than the more popular approaches that depend on language analysis.

Professor Auxier says: “Philosophizing involves telling stories about life that are art, and making up stories that aren’t life but provide a contrast to it. I want readers to add to what I see, and to take up interpretations contrary to mine. A healthy discussion is good for everybody.”

These insightful and provocative chapters include:

● uncover the origins of Queen’s unique style in prog rock, vulgarity, and lower versus higher Romanticism

● examine Queen’s view of love, friendship, and erotic relationships

● draw upon three timeless Queen songs, “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” and Socrates’s behavior in the Apology, to understand the “rocking” nature of philosophy

● identify the connections between ancient matriarchal religion and Queen’s love for strong female imagery

● explore how Brian May’s astrophysics brings to bear the issues of absolute versus relative spacetime and how the philosophies of Newton, Mach, and Einstein contribute to Queen’s creative output

● analyze the structure of Queen’s sound to answer the inevitable question, How can four people make all that music?

● expose what Queen’s songs tell us about the contemporary theory of mental illness and therapy

● scrutinize Roger Taylor’s stark impressions of ordinary life and death, and their alignment to the cynical musings of Diogenes of Sinope and Seneca’s blunt observations on the shortness of life

This book is #6 in our series, Pop Culture and Philosophy.