This Is Water by David Foster Wallace isn‘t really philosophy and it isn’t really a book. But it has some interesting thoughts – as do all of Wallace’s works – and since the term “philosophy” is only very loosely defined, I think we can call it philosophy without getting into too much trouble.
As for the “book” part, it is actually a transcript of a speech he gave, “delivered on a significant occasion”. You can read through it in a couple of minutes. This is quite short, especially if you consider that David Foster Wallace is mostly known for his gargantuan 1996 novel Infinte Jest, which takes months to read.
The “significant occasion” mentioned in the subtitle of the book refers to the commencement address Wallace gave in 2005 at Kenyon College. As far as I can tell, Wallace never intended for a transcript to be published, but after his death a few years later, it was published anyway. The result is that you can now read his thoughts on the meaning of a liberal arts education and the phrase “learning to think”, even if you weren’t fortunate enough to have listened to the speech when it was delivered.
The Title This Is Water reveres to a story which Wallace uses to open his speech, in which two young fish don’t know what water is (it’s more a joke than a story and I don’t really want to ruin the punchline – find out for yourself). The story goes to show that the most ubiquitous thing often goes overlooked and unnoticed. Likewise, a lot will go unnoticed in the everyday lives that awaits the students once they have graduated. It is this thinking about the unnoticed in everyday American life that Wallace’s speech is all about – but I won’t spoil too much.
All in all Wallace’s ideas don’t go as deep as they do in Infinite Jest. Then again, it isn’t nearly as long. So if you want some light (or middle-light) and quick reading during the holidays, this book is certainly for you.
Find the book on the official site: http://www.davidfosterwallacebooks.com/thisiswater.html