Abrol FairweatherSteinberg Jesse R. - Blues: thinking deep about feeling low

VOLUME EDITORS

JESSE R. STEINBERG is an assistant professor of philosophy and the director of the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. He has been a visiting professor at Victoria University in New Zealand, at the University of California at Riverside, and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has published a number of articles on topics including philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and ethics.

ABROL FAIRWEATHER is an instructor at San Francisco State University and the University of San Fransisco. He has published in the area of virtue epistemology and sustains interests in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and philosophy of language. He has contributed to popular culture volumes on Facebook and Dexter. The guitar, vocals, and lyrics of Lightnin Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt are major influences.

SERIES EDITOR

FRITZ ALLHOFF is an associate professor in the philosophy department at Western Michigan University, as well as a senior research fellow at the Australian National Universitys Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series, he is also the volume editor or co-editor for several titles, including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007). His academic research interests engage various facets of applied ethics, ethical theory, and the history and philosophy of science.

PHILOSOPHY FOR EVERYONE

Series editor: Fritz Allhoff

Not so much a subject matter, philosophy is a way of thinking. Thinking not just about the Big Questions, but about little ones too. This series invites everyone to ponder things they care about, big or small, significant, serious or just curious.

Running & Philosophy: A Marathon for the Mind
Edited by Michael W. Austin
Wine & Philosophy: A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking
Edited by Fritz Allhoff
Food & Philosophy: Eat, Think and Be Merry
Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Dave Monroe
Beer & Philosophy: The Unexamined Beer Isnt Worth Drinking
Edited by Steven D. Hales
Whiskey & Philosophy: A Small Batch of Spirited Ideas
Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Marcus P. Adams
College Sex Philosophy for Everyone: Philosophers With Benefits
Edited by Michael Bruce and Robert M. Stewart
Cycling Philosophy for Everyone: A Philosophical Tour de Force
Edited by Jess Ilundin-Agurruza and Michael W. Austin
Climbing Philosophy for Everyone: Because Its There
Edited by Stephen E. Schmid
Hunting Philosophy for Everyone: In Search of the Wild Life
Edited by Nathan Kowalsky
Christmas Philosophy for Everyone: Better Than a Lump of Coal
Edited by Scott C. Lowe
Cannabis Philosophy for Everyone: What Were We Just Talking About?
Edited by Dale Jacquette
Porn Philosophy for Everyone: How to Think With Kink
Edited by Dave Monroe
Serial Killers Philosophy for Everyone: Being and Killing
Edited by S. Waller
Dating Philosophy for Everyone: Flirting With Big Ideas
Edited by Kristie Miller and Marlene Clark
Gardening Philosophy for Everyone: Cultivating Wisdom
Edited by Dan OBrien
Motherhood Philosophy for Everyone: The Birth of Wisdom
Edited by Sheila Lintott
Fatherhood Philosophy for Everyone: The Dao of Daddy
Edited by Lon S. Nease and Michael W. Austin
Coffee Philosophy for Everyone: Grounds for Debate
Edited by Scott F. Parker and Michael W. Austin
Fashion Philosophy for Everyone: Thinking with Style
Edited by Jessica Wolfendale and Jeanette Kennett
Yoga Philosophy for Everyone: Bending Mind and Body
Edited by Liz Stillwaggon Swan
Blues Philosophy for Everyone: Thinking Deep About Feeling Low
Edited by Jesse R. Steinberg and Abrol Fairweather

Forthcoming books in the series:

Sailing Philosophy for Everyone: A Place of Perpetual Undulation
Edited by Patrick Goold
Tattoos Philosophy for Everyone: I Ink, Therefore I Am
Edited by Rob Arp

This edition first published 2012
2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Blues philosophy for everyone : thinking deep about feeling low / edited by
Jesse R. Steinberg and Abrol Fairweather.
p. cm. (Philosophy for everyone)

ISBN 978-0-470-65680-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Blues (Music)Social aspects. 2. Music and philosophy. I. Steinberg, Jesse R.
II. Fairweather, Abrol.
ML3521.B64 2012
781.64301dc23

2011026137

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This book is published in the following electronic formats: ePDFs 9781118153253; Wiley Online Library 9781118153284; ePub 9781118153260; Mobi 9781118153277

This book is dedicated to the folks that have produced the greatest
music on Earth. Thank you!

BRUCE IGLAUER

FOREWORD

The blues is an art of ambiguity, an assertion of the irrepressibly human over all circumstances, whether created by others, or by ones own human failing.