LSSU philosophy professor talks about immortality in second book

The popularity of vampire books and movies like Twilight in recent years is one marker of the timeless desire of humanity to claim immortality.

Lake Superior State University professor Jason Swedene explores many other such ideas that appear throughout the disciplines of philosophy and the humanities in his second book, Staying Alive: The Varieties of Immortality.

The book was published in June by Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., in Lantham, Maryland.

Swedene talks about immortality in the forms of love, fame, family and achievement, among other pursuits within the book's pages.

"My aim was to write a readable book that will afford the reader an increased sensitivity to the many ways the desire for immortality has shaped history, philosophy, art, and literature," Swedene says, adding the book is aimed at students but is written to be enjoyed by anyone, rather than being just a textbook.

He also is the director of the Honors program at LSSU, and credits his students and fellow professor James Zukowski with helping the writing process, along with the draft stages, by offering critiques.

Swedene's first book, A Philosophy of Moral Dilemmas, was released in 2007.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Jason Swedene, LSSU