Shenk Joshua Wolf Allhoff Fritz Miller Kristie Clark - Dating & philosophy : flirting with big ideas

CONTENTS

VOLUME EDITORS

KRISTIE MILLER is a research fellow in philosophy at the University of Sydney, Australia. She is the author of Issues in Theoretical Diversity: Persistence, Composition and Time (2006) as well as numerous journal articles on related topics.

MARLENE CLARK is an Associate Professor of English at the City College Center for Worker Education, City University of New York. Her composition textbook, Juxtapositions: Ideas for College Writers (2005), is in its third edition.

SERIES EDITOR

FRITZ ALLHOFF is an Assistant 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, Allhoff is 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).

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

Forthcoming books in the series:

Fashion Philosophy for Everyone
Edited by Jessica Wolfendale and Jeanette Kennett

Coffee Philosophy for Everyone
Edited by Scott Parker and Michael W. Austin

Blues Philosophy for Everyone
Edited by Abrol Fairweather and Jesse Steinberg

This edition first published 2010
2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd except for editorial material and organization
2010 Kristie Miller and Marlene Clark

Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwells publishing program has been merged with Wileys global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dating philosophy for everyone: flirting with big ideas / edited by Kristie Miller and Marlene Clark.

p. cm. (Philosophy for everyone)

title: Dating philosophy for everyone

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-4443-3022-9 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Dating (Social customs) 2. Mate selection. I. Miller, Kristie Lyn. II. Clark, Marlene. III. Title: Dating Philosophy for Everyone.

HQ801.D336 2010

646.7'709051dc22

2010004708

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

JOSHUA WOLF SHENK

FOREWORD

Some years ago, I got my stomach in a twist about an Israeli-born actress (Ill call her Rachael). We were set up on a blind date in New York, and, when I saw her, I couldnt believe my luck. She had dark, curly hair, long legs, and a summer shirt that gave her hips plenty of room to breathe. Her smile warmed me like a heat lamp. I came upon her sitting on the stoop of the restaurant where wed planned to meet. As she uncurled herself to greet me, I wondered if she would stretch beyond three dimensions. I barely had voice enough to suggest we go inside, and I hoped my legs wouldnt buckle on the way.

The restaurant was an intimate, narrow room. With the delicate smells and the soft light, the edges of the outside world dissolved. I felt myself fumbling at first in conversation, but she seemed to find my awkwardness charming. She laughed at my jokes, and her eyes went wide at my ruminations on how to find meaning in a life full of so much suffering.