A few good things to watch and read

The Age of Enlightenment, women in philosophy, and some charming cinema

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

This week I wanted to share a few books and films I’ve been enjoying lately. Hope you find something here you like too!

Film

A Sense of Wonder

Starring Virginie Efira and Benjamin Lavernhe, Directed by Eric Besnard

Very sweet French film about finding deep human connection despite surface-level differences. Gorgeous scenery from the French Alps, beautiful cinematography, and uplifting storyline. Currently available on Amazon Prime.

My Man Godfrey

Starring William Powell and Carole Lombard, directed by Gregory La Cava

I recently rewatched this 1936 film and was reminded why movies were so much better in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Funny, irreverent screwball comedy with a heart of gold and sharp social commentary. You will fall in love with William Powell and Carole Lombard, both at their finest here. A history lesson, morality tale, and barrel of laughs all rolled into one—just my kind of movie!

Lecture

The Power of Your Brain on Art

Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen

Really interesting lecture from two experts on the neuroscience of art. This is a great continuation of my On Stories post from a couple weeks ago, which looked at the evolutionary basis for artistic and creative expression. Ross and Magsamen are at the cutting edge of this research and articulate convincing reasons why we all should incorporate more art into our lives.

Books

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of history. Here are two historical topics: one about the Enlightenment, and one about women in philosophy.

Age of Enlightenment

The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790

By Ritchie Robertson

German professor and historian Ritchie Robertson examines how the so-called “long Enlightenment” aimed to improve human happiness in the here and now through fields as diverse as politics, literature, education, medicine, science, and industry. Recovering from centuries of domination by a church that was more concerned with the next life than this one, Europeans discussed and debated the meaning of happiness, whether it is even possible, and the best means of accomplishing it for individuals and societies. Hitting all the highlights, from Hobbes and Locke to Kant, Rousseau, and the French Revolution, this book offers a very comprehensive look at how the Enlightenment Era is a key link in eudaimonist philosophy from antiquity to the present day.

The Sensational Past: How the Enlightenment Changed the Way We Use our Senses

By Carolyn Purnell

I love how this book takes a completely unexpected approach to a familiar story. Most people who think of the Enlightenment as The Age of Reason mistakenly believe Enlighteners devalued the senses or the sensual side of life. Au contraire! Purnell shows how many intellectuals of the era keenly valued sensation and how Enlightenment philosophy was actually heavily based on the sensory faculties. Written for a popular audience, The Sensational Past is a fun read full of anecdotes and surprises, offering a novel perspective on an over-studied time period. Recommended!

Power, Pleasure, and Profit: Insatiable Appetites from Machiavelli to Madison

By David Wootton

In this more academic read, Wootton argues that the key intellectual currents of the Enlightenment derived from “a key feature which power, pleasure, profit, and utility have in common and which marks the difference between this new world and all that had gone before: they can be pursued without limit” (p. 4). While your first thought, like mine, in response to this claim might be that these drives have been present in humans since the beginning of time, and certainly were on full display during the Roman Empire, Wootton counters that “plenty of Greek and Roman citizens did not live up to their own ideals and principles, but they had no doubt that to give priority to power, pleasure, profit, or utility—to, in a word, advantage—over honor, praise, or virtue was debasing and degrading” (p. 6).

In support of this claim Wootton examines both Aristotelianism and Epicureanism (Stoicism only features in passing), concluding that only in early modernity do we see philosophical justifications offered for the systems that would grow into consequentialism and other advantage-maximining philosophies. While in my opinion the jury is still out on this issue, there is no question that this book will make you think deeply about the world we are living in, and how a virtue ethics like Stoicism can fit into modern society. Highly recommended for those wanting a deep dive into intellectual history, including lots of economic and political thought.

Women in Philosophy

Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life

By Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman

Metaphysical Animals spotlights four phenomenal philosophers who studied at Oxford together while most of the men were off fighting in World War II: Elizabeth Anscombe, Iris Murdoch, Philippa Foot, and Mary Midgley. This beautiful book was written during Covid lockdown by a pair of friends, the philosophers Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman, and their closeness and easy rapport flow throughout the entire work. (Also see their YouTube conversation, where they share background information on the project.) Mac Cumhaill and Wiseman wanted to explore how four of the most important philosophical women of the 20^th century all happened to study at Oxford at the same time—surely it couldn’t be a coincidence? No, the authors discovered, it was not. While the men were mostly off fighting, these women were able to be taken seriously (and establish their careers) in a way that was simply not available to earlier female philosophers.

Not only does Metaphysical Animals provide a sweeping analysis of historical forces and philosophical principles, but it also offers delightful glimpses into the lives and personalities of Murdoch, Midgley, Foot, and Anscombe. Murdoch, the charismatic Communist, larger than life, always falling in and out of love; Midgley, the sensible and slightly anxious one, who ended up pausing her career until she was a grandmother; Foot, the aristocratic, elegant, and unfailingly kind granddaughter of a president; and Anscombe, the trouser-wearing, pipe-smoking, unorthodox and brilliant Catholic convert. Their personalities jump off the page and add a practical and relatable dimension to their philosophical ideas, making this an enjoyable and memorable read.

How to Think Like a Woman: Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Love the Life of the Mind

by Regan Penaluna

In How to Think Like a Woman, philosopher and journalist Regan Penaluna takes a completely different approach to “the woman question.” She intertwines her own life experiences into her exploration of four British proto-feminists of the 17^th and 18^th centuries: Mary Astell (1666-1731), Damaris Cudworth Masham (1659-1708), Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), and Catharine Cockburn (1679-1749). While these four women held vastly different social positions and different philosophical opinions, all four—in their own way—tackled the unfairness of women’s status as second-class citizens. A theme running through the book is that women have faced social expectations and educational constraints that have held them back from fulfilling their potential. In philosophy as in life, women can achieve a great deal when freed from political restrictions and social expectations that see them as irrational and unable to think well.

While Penaluna’s writing on the four historical women is excellent, her own personal narrative at times shades into whininess, and for this reason her book lacks the persuasive power of Metaphysical Animals. Overall, I would say How to Think Like a Woman is worth reading to learn about four fascinating but overlooked philosophical women, although it’s not as deep and insightful as MacCumhaill and Wiseman’s book.

The Philosopher Queens: The Lives and Legacies of Philosophy’s Unsung Women

by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting

Again completely different from the books above, The Philosopher Queens is more an encyclopedia or compendium of philosophical women throughout the ages. Beginning with Diotima in ancient Greece, Buxton and Whiting cover 20 brilliant women from a range of cultural backgrounds, including Ban Zhao from ancient China, Lalla from 14^th century Kashmir, the 19^th century novelist George Eliot, and Azizah Al-Hibri, “a Lebanese-American professor of law focused on human rights and Islamic jurisprudence” (p. 146). Entries are in the 5-8 page range and are therefore quite introductory, covering mainly biographical facts and notable achievements. Taken together, however, the breadth and variety of these women intellectuals is astonishing. While not all of them would be considered philosophers in the narrow sense of the word, they were all significant thinkers who offered new insights and/or challenges to their respective societies.

I would recommend The Philosopher Queens to those who are looking for a lighter read (maybe to read a few pages every day before bed) or who are curious about non-Western female philosophers. (Peter Adamson’s wonderful A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps is another excellent resource for this.) You will certainly find something to learn and appreciate in this book.

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