The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Getting High Minded about Love and Haight

Popular Culture and Philosophy #28

by Steven Gimbel (Editor)

The Grateful Dead and Philosophy contains essays from 20 professional philosophers whose love of the Dead's music and scene have led them to reflect on different philosophical questions that have arisen from the enigma that is the Grateful Dead. Coming at the Dead from a variety of perspectives, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, this book considers how the group fits into the broader trends of American thought running through pragmatism and the Beat poets. There's a pertinent analysis of how the parking lot scene with its tie-dyed t-shirt and veggie burrito vendors was both a rejection and embrace of capitalism, and much more. The lyrics of the Grateful Dead’s many songs are also the basis for several essays considering questions of fate and freedom, the nature-nurture debate, and gamblers’ ethics.

Genres: Philosophy, Music, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2007

Reviews

[Lynnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some parts better than others; depends on reader. I’m torn between 3/4, so 3.5 it is.

[Minter Dial · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of variety in this collection of philosophies around the Grateful Dead.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Getting High Minded about Love and Haight by Steven Gimbel (Open Court Publishing 2007)(782.42166) is an interesting addition to the Grateful Dead library. The book's organization will be immediately familiar to anyone who ever attended a Dead show; the author has arranged the book into broad sections with such titles as "The Parking Lot", "Soundcheck", "First Set", "Second Set", and "Encore". He then breaks down the main sections into sub-chapters which are headed by easily recognizable Dead lyrics.

Here's a great quote that encapsulates the best Dead Shows: "Grateful Dead performances were by design not consciously planned, often reaching their artistic peak when the collective stumbled upon something stunning, when "the music played the band," as it were. Instead of using set lists, the Grateful Dead chose songs by experimenting together until a pulse, rhythm, phrase, or riff emerged from the group, suggesting a song. Their collective improvisatory musical works communicate feeling like any other artwork."(p.77). This is a worthy addition to my collection. My rating: 6.5/10, finished 1/16/14.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad collection of essays relating the life and times and songs of the Grateful Dead to different topics in philosophy. As with the other books in these series, you do have to be a fan already to find the essays interesting and appealing. Still, there's some very interesting writing here. I would have liked to have seen more textual-philosophical analysis relating to the songs themselves, but overall this is worthwhile (assuming that you're a Dead fan).

[Jim Beatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 4th or 5th of the series. Turns out they are written for a particular audience. Pains me to think that dead heads are more philosophical than Lebowskiites. One of my favorite parts of these books is when they give you a blurb on the authors, and the way they mesh the two subjects in said blurbs. This volume dropped the ball on that section and focused mainly on their field of study. Loved it though.

[Kimberly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the worst-edited book I have ever read. The typos alone are enough to distract any reader from what could have been an interesting tome. Please hire a copy editor next time!

[Matthew May · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good discussion on moral relativism was the highlight for me. Space is bad, and you should think so too ;)

[Mickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent!