Damon Young

From the cofounder of VerySmartBrothas.com, and one of the most read writers on race and culture at work today, a provocative and humorous memoir-in-essays that explores the ever-shifting definitions of what it means to be Black (and male) in America For Damon Young, existing while Black is an extreme sport. The act of possessing black skin while searching for space to breathe in America is enough to induce a ceaseless state of angst where questions such as “How should I react here, as a professional black person?” and “Will this white person’s potato salad kill me?” are forever relevant. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker chronicles Young’s efforts to survive while battling and making sense of the various neuroses his country has given him. It’s a condition that’s sometimes stretched to absurd limits, provoking the angst that made him question if he was any good at the “being straight” thing, as if his sexual orientation was something he could practice and get better at, like a crossover dribble move or knitting; creating the farce where, as a teen, he wished for a white person to call him a racial slur just so he could fight him and have a great story about it; and generating the surreality of watching gentrification transform his Pittsburgh neighborhood from predominantly Black to “Portlandia . . . but with Pierogies.” And, at its most devastating, it provides him reason to believe that his mother would be alive today if she were white. From one of our most respected cultural observers, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker is a hilarious and honest debut that is both a celebration of the idiosyncrasies and distinctions of Blackness and a critique of white supremacy and how we define masculinity.

A Memoir in Essays

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker

We are not born readers, we learn to turn words into worlds. But why is fine writing lauded while excellent reading is ignored? In The Art of Reading, philosopher Damon Young reveals the pleasures of this intimate pursuit through a rich sample of literature- from Virginia Woolf's diaries to Batman comics. He writes with honesty and humour about the blunders and revelations of his own bookish life. Devoting each chapter to a literary virtue--curiosity, patience, courage, pride, temperance, justice--The Art of Readingcelebrates the reader's power- to turn shapes on a page into a lifelong adventure.

The Art of Reading

The School of Life

We tend to regard exercise as pure physical exertion, a working of the muscles to develop (or show) bodily strength and vitality. We do not exercise to improve our minds or to learn something new; we commonly make this division of the body and mind. But this was not always so; the ancient Greeks rarely split us into body and mind, in theory or practice, so why do we make that separation today? In How to Think About Exercise, Damon Young answers this question by examining our modern lifestyles of new technology and expensive gym memberships, of commuter trains and air-conditioned offices. He then goes further by asking us to reflect on the mental value of exercise. Drawing on scholarship, great literature and pop culture, he examines different forms of exercise and reveals how physical activity can be existential - a way of reclaiming and refining our selves. Damon offers practical, accessible advice for giving aspects of self more value through exercise.

How to Think About Exercise

In Philosophy in the Garden, Damon Young explores one of literature's most intimate relationships: authors and their gardens. For some, the garden provided a retreat from workaday labour; for others, solitude's quiet counsel. For all, it played a philosophical role: giving their ideas a new life. Philosophy in the Garden reveals the profound thoughts discovered in parks, backyards and pot-plants. It does not provide tips for mowing overgrown cooch grass, or mulching a dry Japanese maple. It is a philosophical companion to the garden's labours and joys.

Philosophy in the Garden

Originally published: Great Britain: Macmillan, A2014.

Distraction

filosoferen over literatuur

De goede lezer

Okuma Sanati

Bahcede Felsefe

Some pops scream 'Huzzah!' when they dive in dazzling pools. But my pop is a pirate . . . he yells 'Aaarrrgghhh!' and buries jewels. All pops are different. But what if your pop was really different? What if your pop was a . . . pirate? A rollicking and comical picture book celebrating pops everywhere.

My Pop Is a Pirate

Why did Marcel Proust have bonsai beside his bed? What was Jane Austen doing, coveting an apricot? How was Friedrich Nietzsche inspired by his 'thought tree'? In Philosophy in the Garden, Damon Young explores one of literature's most intimate relationships: authors and their gardens. For some, the garden provided a retreat from workaday labour; for others, solitude's quiet counsel. For all, it played a philosophical role: giving their ideas a new life. Philosophy in the Gardenreveals the profound thoughts discovered in parks, backyards, and pot-plants. It does not provide tips for mowing overgrown couch grass, or mulching a dry Japanese maple. It is a philosophical companion to the garden's labours and joys.

Why did Marcel Proust have bonsai beside his bed? What was Jane Austen doing, coveting an apricot? How was Friedrich Nietzsche inspired by his ‘thought tree’? Philosopher Damon reveals one of literature’s most intimate relationships: authors and their gardens. For some, the garden provided a retreat from workaday labour; for others, solitude’s quiet counsel. For all, it played a philosophical role, giving their ideas new life. With lively prose and great stories, Young shows how gardens are much more than pretty ornaments or hobbies to kill the hours. Gardens, plants and the great outdoors console or confront, calm or animate, tease or test – they can be an antidote to distraction and disorientation. This insightful guide reveals the profound thoughts and ideas for living discovered by eleven famous writers in parks, backyards and pot-plants, making it a colourful yet philosophical companion to the garden’s toils and joys.

How Gardens Inspired Great Writers

Voltaire’s Vine and Other Philosophies

Why did Marcel Proust have bonsai beside his bed? What was Jane Austen doing, coveting an apricot? How was Friedrich Nietzsche inspired by his 'thought tree'? In Philosophy in the Garden, Damon Young explores one of literature's most intimate relationships: authors and their gardens. For some, the garden provided a retreat from workaday labor; for others, solitude's quiet counsel. For all, it played a philosophical role: giving their ideas a new life. What unites the authors--Proust, Woolf, Colette, Rousseau, Orwell, Emily Dickinson, Kazantzakis--portrayed in Philosophy in the Garden is not any one ideal, but a devotion to the garden itself: to its philosophical fertility. Despite being bookworms and paper moths, they did some of their best thinking al fresco. (Even Jean-Paul Sartre, whose hero in Nausea was sickened by a chestnut tree.) Philosophy in the Garden reveals the profound thoughts discovered in parks, backyards, and pot-plants. It does not provide tips for mowing overgrown couch grass, or mulching a dry Japanese maple. It is a philosophical companion to the garden's labors and joys.

Graham Priest

This is the first substantial academic book to lay out the philosophical terrain within the study of the martial arts and to explore the significance of this fascinating subject for contemporary philosophy. The book is divided into three sections. The first section concerns what philosophical reflection can teach us about the martial arts, and especially the nature and value of its practice. The second section deals with the other direction of the dialectical interplay between philosophy and the martial arts: how the martial arts can inform philosophical issues important in their own right. Finally, because many of the notable martial arts are of Asian origin, there are particularly close links between the arts and Asian philosophies – and Buddhism in particular – and therefore the last section is devoted to this topic. The essays in this collection deal with a wide range of philosophical issues: normative ethics, meta-ethics, aesthetics, phenomenology, the philosophy of mind, Ancient Greek and Buddhist thought. By demonstrating the very real nature of the engagement between the martial arts and philosophy, this book is essential reading for any serious student or scholar with an interest in the martial arts, Eastern philosophy, the philosophy of sport, or the study of physical culture.

Engagement

Philosophy and the Martial Arts

We all know what it is to be distracted--a feeling that our attention is not quite where it should be. Though it is not a new complaint, at work and at home, in our social lives and in the bedroom, our attention is often torn between one thing and another. What does it mean to be distracted, and why? In this insightful journey through the lives of philosophers, artists and great political thinkers, Damon Young shows how rewarding patient, sensitive and thoughtful attention to the world can be. He suggests that the opposite of a life of distraction is one of genuine freedom.

A Philosopher's Guide to Being Free

Bahçede Felsefe

Vom Philosophieren im Garten

Warum Jane Austen ohne Flieder nicht leben konnte

"All brothers are different. But what if your brother was really different? What if your brother was a beast? A brilliantly boisterous picture book celebrating our lovable brothers and the fun and adventure they bring into our lives. A must for every family and library."

My Brother Is a Beast

In ‘Filosoferen over beweging en sport’ onderzoekt de Australische filosoof Damon Young de waarde van lichaamsbeweging voor lichaam én geest. Vaak lijkt ons bestaan in tweeën opgesplitst. Op kantoor denken we na en lijkt ons lichaam overbodig, in de sportschool bewegen we, maar doet onze geest er niet toe. Young onderzoekt het thema ‘beweging en sport’ in leven en werk van oude en moderne filosofen. Hij toont aan dat beweging, sport, training en discipline belangrijk zijn voor ons welzijn, en legt een verbinding tussen lichaam en geest . Door op een slimme manier te trainen, werken we aan ons hele mens-zijn, en genieten we ook van het bewegen zelf. Een unieke benadering van het lichaam-geestprobleem, nog steeds een van de hoofdthema’s uit de filosofie. ‘Damon Young weet als geen ander de filosofen en schrijvers die hij bespreekt tot leven te wekken.’ – De Morgen

Damon Young

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