Questioning: a New History of Western Philosophy

Gideon Baker provides a gripping genealogy of Western philosophy as a history of questioning. From Socrates to Judith Butler, he reveals the ancient in the modern and reflects on newer questions, like: is human being uniquely defined by questioning? And does the negativity of questioning lead to nihilistic despair? Staying faithful to his theme, Baker calls Western philosophy itself into question, asking why questioning should be seen as central to the true life. Is this not the same prejudice that led Socrates, at the beginning of Western philosophy, to ask whether the unexamined life is worth living? Far from being timeless, the questioning that lies at the heart of Western philosophy has a strange and unsettling history that concerns us all.

Gideon Baker provides a gripping genealogy of Western philosophy as a history of questioning. From Socrates to Judith Butler, he reveals the ancient in the modern and reflects on newer questions, like: is human being uniquely defined by questioning? And does the negativity of questioning lead to nihilistic despair? Staying faithful to his theme, Baker calls Western philosophy itself into question, asking why questioning should be seen as central to the true life. Is this not the same prejudice that led Socrates, at the beginning of Western philosophy, to ask whether the unexamined life is worth living? Far from being timeless, the questioning that lies at the heart of Western philosophy has a strange and unsettling history that concerns us all.