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McFarland Publishers, the leading publisher of serious books on sports, has released Raymond Angelo Belliotti’s most recent work, Watching Baseball, Seeing Philosophy: The Great Thinkers at Play on the Diamond.
In his new book, Belliotti, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Fredonia, points to the uncanny connections between the careers and lives of nine baseball greats and the philosophies of the great thinkers of the West.
Offering a practical application of Western philosophy, Belliotti examines icons of American sport and culture. Some examples in his book:
- The intensity and single-mindedness of Ted Williams breathes life into Albert Camus’s Sisyphus;
- Billy Martin’s maniacal competiveness recalls Niccolò Machiavelli’s take on politics, which is rightly characterized as a zero-sum game;
- the homespun philosophy of Satchel Paige echoes the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius;
- and the many facets of Joe DiMaggio’s personality cry out for the resolution that Friedrich Nietzsche’s doctrine of perspectivism might have given.
- The unsurpassed calm and management skills of Joe Torre are reminiscent of Aristotle’s theories of friendship and personal relations.
- The social impact of Jackie Robinson unknowingly followed the script for nonviolent revolution penned by Antonio Gramsci.
- The rise, fall, and redemption of Mickey Mantle demonstrated aspects of faith, reason, and human response crafted by St. Thomas Aquinas.
- The superstitions of players such as John Franco involved connections between truth, belief, action, and performance that guided much of the work of William James.
- Jose Canseco’s unsqueamish use of performance-enhancing drugs raised moral questions that once confronted Immanuel Kant.
Belliotti has been teaching at Fredonia since 1984. He is the author of seven other books: Justifying Law (1992), Good Sex (1993), Seeking Identity (1995), Stalking Nietzsche (1998), What is the Meaning of Human Life? (2001), Happiness is Overrated (2004), and The Philosophy of Baseball (2006).
Good Sex has also been translated into Korean and published in Asia. What is the Meaning of Human Life? was a finalist for the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy’s Book of the Year Award.
Belliotti earned a law degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from the University of Miami. He has been the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, the William T. Hagan Young Scholar/Artist Award, the Kasling Lecture Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship, and the SUNY Foundation Research & Scholarship Recognition Award.
Belliotti is also a featured lecturer for the New York Council for the Humanities Speakers in the Humanities program
