The Art of Insight

Chapter 13The Therapy of Visualization

with Deniz Cem Önduygu

Figure 13.1: “History of Philosophy,” early 2014 version

Deniz Cem Önduygu / https://www.denizcemonduygu.com/portfolio/the-history-of-philosophy/ / last accessed under April 19, 2023

Let nobody put off doing philosophy when he is young, nor slacken off in philosophy because of old age. For nobody is either too young or too old to secure the health of the soul.

—Epicurus

On October 8, 2018, philosopher Daniel Dennett tweeted to his more than three hundred thousand followers: “Here's a surprisingly useful thinking tool for anybody interested in the history of Western philosophy: a sort of garden of forking paths of argument.” That thinking tool was an interactive arc diagram by information designer Deniz Cem Önduygu (Figure 13.1.) If you aren't into philosophy, maybe Dennett's name might sound unfamiliar, but I can tell you that at the time I thought that his praise was a big deal. Dennett is one of the foremost philosophers of science and of mind, author of books such as Consciousness Explained (1991) and Darwin's Dangerous Idea (1995.) His tweet prompted me to look into Deniz's visualizations and to ask him for a conversation, which began with some details about his childhood:

My mother was a neurologist and my grandfather was an engineer, so I grew up around lots of medical illustrations and mechanical drawings. ...