Tattoos - Philosophy for Everyone: I Ink, Therefore I Am

by Robert Arp (Editor), Fritz Allhoff (Editor)

Covering philosophical issues ranging from tattooed religious symbols to a feminist aesthetics of tattoo, Tattoos and Philosophy offers an enthusiastic analysis of inking that will lead readers to consider the nature of the tattooing arts in a new and profound way.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

296 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2012

About the author

Robert Arp, Ph.D. (Saint Louis University, 2005), has taught Philosophy at Southwest Minnesota State University, Florida State University, and many schools in Missouri, before doing postdoctoral research in ontology through the National Center for Biomedical Ontology with Mark Musen and Barry Smith at the University at Buffalo.

Reviews

[David Haines · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an interesting and helpful look at tattoos from a variety of perspectives. It touches almost every aspect of tattoos that an interested reader could ask about, ranging from the history of tattoos, to the way Christian and Buddhists should think about the morality of tattoos. Most of the articles are short enough to read in about 20-40 minutes (depending on how fast you read). Some of the articles are more academic, others are more popular level (leaning towards personal testimony); some dig deep, others barely skim the surface. The wide variety of the quality of the articles means that the book is not as helpful as it could be, but, it is still an excellent resource for those who might be interested in philosophical, theological, medical, and religious perspectives on tattoos. In my estimation, it is a helpful introduction to the types of questions that are often asked about tattoos, and to questions related to philosophical questions such as human nature, personal identity, existence, and beauty.

[Meli Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐

The premise is unique; the execution started strong but fizzled in the second half. Overall I definitely enjoyed this and appreciated the thorough, intentional approach that the contributors brought to their essays. The first half was especially thought-provoking, but by the second half multiple topics/points began to feel repetitive and that Loos quote was (over)used so much it became trite.

[Steve Sherman]

From what I've read so far...

This work is far more academic than I had anticipated, which provide for much more substance than the pop-philosophy I had expected. Technical philosophical jargon is used but not without explanation, so this book builds upon the established field, though it seems someone who has not read much philosophy could make their way through this work without need of referencing other sources to make sense of the relevance these articles make to current philosophical conversations.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of works regarding tattoos; all from a philosophical point of view. Discussing tattoos from their artistic conceptions to their relation with religious practices and doctrine, Robert Arp brings us a neatly organizeed set of works aimed to maintain the reader engaged and to transmit basic philosophical concepts using tattoo practices as baseline. Ideal to regular folk or specialized scholars who want a starting point for studiyng tattoos within a sociologicall focus.

[Cass · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book.

[Jonn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is NOTan easy read. This book is actually a Philosophy Text Book on tattoos and tattooing. There technical terms, and plenty of references to research and research articles….

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book from an interesting series, that views philosophical ideas through the lens of very different fields. As a collection of essays by different authors, some points were higher than others, but overall it had some pretty interesting considerations of getting tattooed.