Astonish Yourself: 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life

Already a European bestseller, Roger-Pol Droit's highly original book is a reassessment of our day-to-day engagement with life. In 101 short texts, written with limpid elegance, Droit invites us to reconsider our most ordinary actions as unexpected philosophical events. Peeling an apple, trying to lie in a hammock, watching someone sleep, hearing your voice on an answering machine, playing with a small child - activities that, when considered outside of their routine, invite us to experience the familiar in startling new ways. Droit encourages us to go further: pretend to be an animal of your choice, create a wall with your hands, try to walk around your room in total darkness, spend time in the subway system - and observe your oddity. 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life encourages astonishment, unwedges us, topples the world a little, unscrews the coffin of habit. Influenced by Zen thought, it is a course in philosophical fitness, conducted in the gymnasium of what passes for ordinary life.… (more)