Astra Taylor accompanies some of todays most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas. Peter Singers thoughts on the ethics of consumption are amplified against the backdrop of Fifth Avenues posh boutiques. Slavoj Zizek questions current beliefs about the environment while sifting through a garbage dump. Michael Hardt ponders the nature of revolution while surrounded by symbols of wealth and leisure. Judith Butler and a friend stroll through San Franciscos Mission District questioning our cultures fixation on individualism. And while driving through Manhattan, Cornel West-perhaps Americas best-known public intellectual-compares philosophy to jazz and blues, reminding us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be. Offering privileged moments with great thinkers from fields ranging from moral philosophy to cultural theory, Examined Life reveals philosophys power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it.