The book explores the challenge of living with a pessimistic and misanthropic worldview, questioning how individuals can find meaning and happiness in a seemingly unchangeable human condition. Cooper advocates for a quietist approach, suggesting that true wellbeing can be achieved by seeking solace in nature, away from the complexities and disappointments of everyday life. This perspective encourages readers to reconsider their relationship with the world and find peace in the natural environment.
Per Francis Bacon, il giardino era "il più puro dei piaceri umani", mentre Boccaccio lo vedeva come un luogo di libertà sessuale e intellettuale, ideale per discussioni filosofiche e come medicina per corpo e anima. Plinio il Giovane, che trascorse gran parte della sua vita nei giardini da lui progettati, credeva che solo in quei luoghi si potesse sperimentare "una vita felice e vera", e che coltivare piante fosse il miglior modo per coltivare se stessi. Ma cosa rappresenta realmente un giardino? Qual è il valore che gli esseri umani attribuiscono alla creazione e all'esperienza di questi spazi? Considerando l'entusiasmo per i giardini nella civiltà antica e moderna, da Oriente a Occidente, è sorprendente che tali domande siano state trascurate dal pensiero filosofico. Questo libro propone una "filosofia del giardino", riflettendo su una pratica che si distacca dalle arti figurative e dalla contemplazione della natura, attingendo a un campo nascosto delle emozioni e a una verità essenziale dello spirito. L'autore sottolinea che il giardinaggio è l'unica arte che richiede la collaborazione della natura per sopravvivere, conferendo a questa simbiosi un carattere di mistero che continua a affascinarci.
The book delves into the concept that reality, existing beyond human perspectives, is fundamentally indescribable and remains a 'mystery.' David Cooper critiques alternative views that fail to align with the human experience, advocating for a philosophical understanding that embraces mystery as essential. By doing so, he emphasizes how this appreciation shapes our beliefs and actions, restoring a vital element to philosophical discourse.
Meaning is one of our most central and most ubiquitous concepts. Anything at all may, in suitable contexts, have meaning ascribed to it. In this wide-ranging book, David Cooper departs from the usual focus on linguistic meaning to discuss how works of art, ceremony, social action, bodily gesture, and the purpose of life can all be meaningful. He argues that the notion of meaning is best approached by considering what we accept as explanations of meaning in everyday practice and shows that in these situations we are explaining the appropriate fit of an item - whether a word or an artwork - with something larger than or outside of itself. This fuller account of meaning explores questions of the meaning of meaning and tackles issues such as whether meaning is just a misleading 'folk' term for something more basic, whether there really is meaning at all, and whether we should strive for meaning or let our lives 'just be' rather than mean. By taking the problem of meaning out of the technical philosophy of language and providing a more general account, Cooper is able to offer new insights into the import, function, and status of meaning that will be of interest not only to philosophers of language but to students and philosophers working in areas such as epistemology and metaphysics.
