Product Description
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY WITH PREFACES BY CHARLES HEGEL AND THE TRANSLATOR, J. SIBREE, M.A. REVISED EDITION
This work presents world history in terms of Hegelian philosophy, demonstrating that history follows the dictates of reason.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.

Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the difficult to read text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Gray on Gray
This is a work from the full flower of German Idealism. Hegel thought we could trace the history of consciousness by making a specialized study of the historical development of a few (hand selected) civilizations. Hegel makes history more fun, but proving a massive thesis with examples doubly selected to fit (only some facts matter, only some civilizations matter) is suspect. Any thesis based on history seems questionable, as the 'facts' of history are already considerably picked over. For example, historical 'facts' may survive because they are chosen to be recorded by the winners of wars. Some historical facts are survive by accident--depending on which written records still remain.

Marx turned Hegel on his head with dialectical materialism, a Marxist joke on Hegel's dialectical idealism. However, I think knowledge of Hegel isn't essential to understand Marxist philosophy. Hegel is essential background for Kierkegaard's works. Hegel is also a background source for deconstructionism, that modern haven of 'historical facts selected to fit the theory.'

A great philosopher on importance of history!
I read this book for a graduate class in history.Hegel's philosophy of history is perhaps the most fully developed philosophical theory of history that attempts to discover meaning or direction in history.Hegel incorporates a deeper historicism into his philosophical theories than his predecessors or successors. According to Hegel, the events whose story is told by political and legal history can be given a philosophical interpretation that will bring out its philosophical meaning.He does this himself in his lectures on the Philosophy of History.He views it to be a central task for philosophy to comprehend its place in the unfolding of history.History is for Hegel the development of Freedom, or rather, of the consciousness of Freedom.History is the process by which Spirit becomes conscious of itself.Individual thinkers, artists, and historical actors are primarily the means or instruments by which the collective spirit (God in the world) becomes conscious of truth.

Hegel constructs world history into a narrative of stages of human freedom, from the public freedom of the polis and the citizenship of the Roman Republic, to the individual freedom of the Protestant Reformation, to the civic freedom of the modern state.He attempts to incorporate the civilizations of India and China into his understanding of world history, though he regards those civilizations as static and therefore pre-historical.He constructs specific moments as "world-historical" events that were in the process of bringing about the final, full stage of history and human freedom.For example, Napoleon's conquest of much of Europe is portrayed as a world-historical event doing history's work by establishing the terms of the rational bureaucratic state.Hegel finds reason in history; but it is a latent reason, and one that can only be comprehended when the fullness of history's work is finished.

Many in Western Europe saw Europe or the Western European nations as the pinnacle of historical development, poised to carry their mission civilisatrice to Asia, Africa, Oceania.Yes, they could say, ancient civilizations had contributed to the eventual emergence of modern European civilization, but Europe had integrated what was valuable in those ancient insights into a higher form and it could now turn around and offer this higher form of culture to the rest of humanity who had remained "backward" and "underdeveloped."Hegel has very little to say about the New World.He acknowledges that the Native Americans have been overtaken by Europeans, thus the New World is a continuation of the Old World in its civilization and culture.He sees history progressing in America (populated by Englishmen), but finds that it has not matured yet.He sees America as a growing, prosperous, and industrious nation with a population that is a federation of people who love freedom.However, the nation is not politically fixed yet and he thinks, "a real state and a real government will arise only after a distinction of classes has arisen, when wealth and poverty become extreme."However, this can't happen as long as America has vast territory for people to expand and populate, he thinks these changes can't come about until America is as crowded as Europe so that people agitate each other and clamor for change.I think Hegel foresaw the Civil War.I think the America he ultimately envisioned is finally here today.Our country seems to be equally divided politically and I am not sure our present political institutions can hold us together.

Hegel once described Napoleon, whom he observed in the flesh just before or after one of Napoleon's major victories, as "the world spirit on horseback."Napoleon at that time was a major expression of the dynamic process which was transforming Europe in a certain direction.When Napoleon had served his purpose, he was discarded by the World Spirit, which then adopted other political leaders as its means.

It is worth observing that Hegel's philosophy of history is not the caricature of speculative philosophical reasoning that analytic philosophers sometimes paint it.His philosophical approach is not based solely on foundational a priori reasoning.Instead he proposes an "immanent" encounter between philosophical reason and the historical given.His prescription is that the philosopher should seek to discover the rational within the real--not to impose the rational upon the real."To comprehend what is, this is the task of philosophy, because what is, is reason."Hegel's approach is neither purely philosophical nor purely empirical; instead, he undertakes to discover within the best historical knowledge of his time, an underlying rational principle that can be philosophically articulated.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

A great philosopher on importance of history!
I read this book for a graduate class in history.Hegel's philosophy of history is perhaps the most fully developed philosophical theory of history that attempts to discover meaning or direction in history.Hegel incorporates a deeper historicism into his philosophical theories than his predecessors or successors. According to Hegel, the events whose story is told by political and legal history can be given a philosophical interpretation that will bring out its philosophical meaning.He does this himself in his lectures on the Philosophy of History.He views it to be a central task for philosophy to comprehend its place in the unfolding of history.History is for Hegel the development of Freedom, or rather, of the consciousness of Freedom.History is the process by which Spirit becomes conscious of itself.Individual thinkers, artists, and historical actors are primarily the means or instruments by which the collective spirit (God in the world) becomes conscious of truth.

Hegel constructs world history into a narrative of stages of human freedom, from the public freedom of the polis and the citizenship of the Roman Republic, to the individual freedom of the Protestant Reformation, to the civic freedom of the modern state.He attempts to incorporate the civilizations of India and China into his understanding of world history, though he regards those civilizations as static and therefore pre-historical.He constructs specific moments as "world-historical" events that were in the process of bringing about the final, full stage of history and human freedom.For example, Napoleon's conquest of much of Europe is portrayed as a world-historical event doing history's work by establishing the terms of the rational bureaucratic state.Hegel finds reason in history; but it is a latent reason, and one that can only be comprehended when the fullness of history's work is finished.

Many in Western Europe saw Europe or the Western European nations as the pinnacle of historical development, poised to carry their mission civilisatrice to Asia, Africa, Oceania.Yes, they could say, ancient civilizations had contributed to the eventual emergence of modern European civilization, but Europe had integrated what was valuable in those ancient insights into a higher form and it could now turn around and offer this higher form of culture to the rest of humanity who had remained "backward" and "underdeveloped."Hegel has very little to say about the New World.He acknowledges that the Native Americans have been overtaken by Europeans, thus the New World is a continuation of the Old World in its civilization and culture.He sees history progressing in America (populated by Englishmen), but finds that it has not matured yet.He sees America as a growing, prosperous, and industrious nation with a population that is a federation of people who love freedom.However, the nation is not politically fixed yet and he thinks, "a real state and a real government will arise only after a distinction of classes has arisen, when wealth and poverty become extreme."However, this can't happen as long as America has vast territory for people to expand and populate, he thinks these changes can't come about until America is as crowded as Europe so that people agitate each other and clamor for change.I think Hegel foresaw the Civil War.I think the America he ultimately envisioned is finally here today.Our country seems to be equally divided politically and I am not sure our present political institutions can hold us together.

Hegel once described Napoleon, whom he observed in the flesh just before or after one of Napoleon's major victories, as "the world spirit on horseback."Napoleon at that time was a major expression of the dynamic process which was transforming Europe in a certain direction.When Napoleon had served his purpose, he was discarded by the World Spirit, which then adopted other political leaders as its means.

It is worth observing that Hegel's philosophy of history is not the caricature of speculative philosophical reasoning that analytic philosophers sometimes paint it.His philosophical approach is not based solely on foundational a priori reasoning.Instead he proposes an "immanent" encounter between philosophical reason and the historical given.His prescription is that the philosopher should seek to discover the rational within the real--not to impose the rational upon the real."To comprehend what is, this is the task of philosophy, because what is, is reason."Hegel's approach is neither purely philosophical nor purely empirical; instead, he undertakes to discover within the best historical knowledge of his time, an underlying rational principle that can be philosophically articulated.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

Good place to start with Hegelian philosophy
Hegel's lectures on History (along with those of his on Law) probably represent the most accessible introduction to the thought of this very important German idealist.

Hegel's ideas on history and social organisation and Law had a critical influence on many key 19th and 20th century Philosophers, including Karl Marx, Isaiah Berlin and Karl Popper.While some philosophers followed Hegel, many also vigorously rejected his ideas and thought, and it is only more recently Hegel is undergoing a kind of rehabilitation in Philosophy.

This reaction though is understandable since Hegel is a very difficult philosopher to both read and understand.His prose is certainly in my experience the most awfully written and most obscure of any philosopher, and much of the time Hegel seems to be writing nonsense which makes little sense (especially in his more idealist works like phenomeology of spirit).It is understandable then why Schopenhauer called him a 'charlatan' who spouted nothing but 'sophistry' which ruined the intellectual background of Germany, and Bertrand Russell said his philosopy stems from a 'set of simple logical mistakes.'

Nevertheless Hegel is a great Philosopher, and the fact he is extremely obscure does not invalidate some very original and profound and interesting ideas which are to be found in his philosophy, especially in his notion of the dialectic, of Spirit manifesting itself through history and historical events, of his interesting reaction to Kant, his ideas on Art and the reactions to his philosophy from students like Marx.His idealism also influenced important philosophers like Fichte and Schelling in the 19th century, and in the 20th century idealists such as McTaggart,F.H. Bradley, and J.N. Findlay, who built on his thought and provided valuable new philosophical ways of thinking about the Absolute and in bringing religion and mystical experience back into a better relationship with Philosophy, given much of Philosophy since the time of Hume has savagely attacked religion as meaningless nonsense.In the 21st century, it is probably Hegel's thought on ethics, art, history and religion which have the most relevance.

Hegel believes Hegel is the only one who got it right
The presumption and arrogance of Hegel's philosophical enterprise is apparent. A powerful and profound thinker he believes that he understands all. It is thesis- antithesis - synthesis and that synthesis is new thesis - antithesis - synthesis. And this logic of mind is the logic of history. And it is all coming to climax in the nineteenth century GermanyHegel is living in.
The method of course leads to Marx. Two dialectic dummies.
The 'system' is of course opposed by Kierkegaard who wants real life in his philosophy and not ' system' and ' endless abstraction'.
The world actual history with all its surprising turns and new developments simply makes a joke of the Hegelian analysis. Technical reality gives far too much to our world to take someone like Hegel who could not possibly have understood it as its leader.
We still have the idea of development today. We still too need real and deep thinkers.
But Hegel is outmoded, gone without the tools to help us contend with what we are contending. ... Read more

Product Description
Writing Philosophy: A Student's Guide to Writing Philosophy Essays is a concise, self-guided manual that covers the basics of argumentative essay writing and encourages students to master fundamental skills quickly, with minimal instructor input. Opening with an introductory chapter on how to read philosophy, the book then moves into the basics of writing summaries and analyzing arguments. It provides step-by-step instructions for each phase of the writing process, from formulating a thesis, to creating an outline, to writing a final draft, supplementing this tutorial approach with model essays, outlines, introductions, and conclusions. Skills essential to evaluating arguments, citing sources, avoiding plagiarism, detecting fallacies, and formatting final drafts are dealt with in detail. The final two chapters serve as a reference guide to common mistakes and basic skills in sentence construction, writing style, and word choice.Employing a rulebook format similar to that of the classic Elements of Style (by Strunk, White, and Angell), Lewis Vaughn distills helpful writing advice into simple rules that students can easily remember and apply--and that instructors can refer to when reviewing student papers. These rules cover essay organization, sentence structure, documentation styles, plagiarism, grammar, usage, and more. Written in a clear and engaging style and incorporating samples of student writing, Writing Philosophy is an indispensable resource for virtually any philosophy course. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Mandatory for Philosophy Students
I had to buy this for a class and I think this is one of the most useful books I have read. Philosophy teachers love to assign many papers and this made my papers much easier to write. There is a very different mindset required to write a philosophy paper from what you are used to and this helped me get rid of the normal English class fluff that I had learned to throw in. My grades on papers went up (I finally had the As that I wanted instead of the Bs I was receiving for "unneeded" information). Definitely suggest it. It's an easy read that really makes a difference.

Pleasantly surprised
This book was a requirement for a Philosophy class and I have to say it was a fairly easy read. Looks can be deceiving and when I saw how little the text was, I thought, "Wow... Philosophy in a compact book?" It was concise when it needed to be and it sparked a lot of further reading on my part. I did not re-sell this book after the semester was over. It's a keeper!

Writing Essays and Making Good Arguments
This is a really good book. I bought this book for my Intro to Philosophy class 3 months ago and did not sell it. I am going to keep this book since it's a really informative one. This is not really about Philosophy at all. It is about how to analyze/interpret text, write good essays, make good arguments and identify fallacious ones.

So this is a very practical book. It also helps format your essay and cite your sources effectively with the MLA and CMS citing guidelines. ... Read more

Product Description
This new edition offers expanded selections from the works of Kongzi (Confucius), Mengzi (Mencius), Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu), and Xunzi (Hsun Tzu); two new works, the dialogues Robber Zhi and White Horse; a concise general introduction; brief introductions to, and selective bibliographies for, each work; and four appendices that shed light on important figures, periods, texts, and terms in Chinese thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great Concise Commentary and Translations
By far one of the best written books on Chinese philosophy.In addition to a wealth of precise translations the curt commentary provides great insight into the dense works.

Just as described
Items arrived on time and was in great condition.Would purchase from seller again.

Great introduction to Classical Chinese philosophy
This anthology is comprised of various selections by China's most notable classical philosophers: primarily Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, and Han Feizi. With these philosophers, the book introduces Confucianism and the thinkings of Confucius's disciples, who often interpreted his teachings in very different ways, and the book also introduces philosophies/ways of thinking that developed as reactions to Confucius, namely Han Feizi's Legalism. The Daoist way is also introduced via the inclusion of the Daodijing, a number of short poems that eludicate the Way.

There is little commentary on the selections themselves, perhaps for the best, as I find studying Chinese philosophy to be a deeply personal and spiritual experience, but the introductions of each philosopher are particularly helpful in giving some historical background, and connecting each philosopher with not only each other, but also with the problems of their times. Many of these men were government officials, so it becomes interesting to see that occasionally, the development of their philosophies is related to the course of politics at the time.

Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy is a wonderful introduction to Chinese philosophy, and as often it only contains selections of each philosopher (for example, only parts of Confucius's Analects), the more serious student should consider supplementing the book with the complete texts.

An Excellent Overview!
I got this book as a textbook for a class that I subsequently dropped, but I decided that as long as I had it, I might as well read it.I'm glad I did!This book is a wonderful overview of the greatest Chinese philosophers.Each section begins with a few pages recounting what is known about each philosopher covered and what their central beliefs are.In addition, the actual texts are heavily footnoted with explanations of the language, pertinant cross references, and other little facts that make the reading both more informative and more enjoyable.This is a wonderful book for anyone who's looking to get a decent understanding of the 'big name' Chinese philosophers, and will help anyone looking to show off at parties ;)Even if you're not taking a class, this is a wonderful book.

An Excellent Overview!
I got this book as a textbook for a class that I subsequently dropped, but I decided that as long as I had it, I might as well read it.I'm glad I did!This book is a wonderful overview of the greatest Chinese philosophers.Each section begins with a few pages recounting what is known about each philosopher covered and what their central beliefs are.In addition, the actual texts are heavily footnoted with explanations of the language, pertinant cross references, and other little facts that make the reading both more informative and more enjoyable.This is a wonderful book for anyone who's looking to get a decent understanding of the 'big name' Chinese philosophers, and will help anyone looking to show off at parties ;)Even if you're not taking a class, this is a wonderful book. ... Read more

Product Description

A crisp, passionately argued answer to the question that everyone who's grown dependent on digital devices is asking: "Where's the rest of my life?"

Customer Reviews (50)

Already Changing My Life
Hamlet's Blackberry written by former technology journalist William Powers changed my outlook on life within a matter of days. For more than a year I've wondered why my thoughts felt "cluttered" and why my memory was not as sharp as it had been when I was younger. I knew age wasn't that much of a factor (I'm 34) and I had no physical ailments that I knew about that would lead to such problems. William Powers answered those questions and gave me realistic options to change the way I lived my life and end the "cluttered" feeling. He also does a great job pointing out that 21st century humans aren't the first people to feel this kind of "information overload." It's happened to human beings with each new revolutionary invention of technology going back hundreds of years.

Powers central argument is that the one reason that leads to a happy, uncluttered life is depth. According to Powers, "It's the quality of awareness, feeling or understanding that comes when we truly engage with some aspect of our life experience." He also states that this depth can't happen unless we are focused on one task at a time. Powers states that our increasingly digital lives have increased our busyness and interfere with attempts to focus on one thing at a time. Anyone who's worked in an office environment can attest that Powers is right on that point.

This isn't the entire gist of Powers argument, he goes deeper and claims that technology, particularly social media, has changed the way we think and made us drawn "to the crowd." Naturally, when one is a part of a big crowd it may be difficult to experience that one singular focus that Powers says is so important. Many people may be tempted to think that Powers is anti-social media but he recognizes the potential benefits of this new technology and writes that the key is to manage your interaction. Live a life of moderation, don't give yourself over totally to the crowd nor separate yourself completely from it.

One may be also tempted to think that Powers, despite his previous employment as a journalist focused on the technology industry is simply an out of touch anti-future, anti-technology grump. Let me assure you that he's not. He takes great pains to write about the positive aspects of technology. For example, after detailing how a phone call to his Mother made him feel, Powers writes of smartphones, "We can get everyday jobs done more easily and nurture or minds, hearts and souls, all with a little gizmo that fits into our pockets." I also found myself agreeing with many of his negative points about technology because they mirror my own personal experience. For example, Powers writes "On a screen it's easy to jam more busyness into each moment, so that's exactly what we do. Eventually the mind falls into a mode of thinking, a kind of nervous rhythm that's inherently about finding new stimuli, new jobs to perform." On many occasions when I finish a task online I find myself just sitting at the computer clicking from page to page with no apparent reason or real interest in whatever I find with each click.

In order to make his points about how information overload has happened to humans for many years, and methods that we can use today to help us eliminate, or at least manage that feeling, Powers writes about seven different historical individuals and how they interacted with, and managed, new technology. Powers calls them his "Seven philosophers of screens." While these historical details about such figures as Plato, Thoreau and formerly well-known technology philosopher Marshall McLuhan were interesting, I didn't get as much insight from those stories or examples of historical interactions with technology as I did Powers own points.

Powers knows that some of his advice isn't feasible for certain individuals and simply suggests that an individual pick a method to "disconnect" that works for them. If a method is not seen by an individual as leading to a benefit, that individual won't stick to it. For example, Powers and his family's no-Internet weekends would drive me nuts and quickly lead to me "falling off the wagon" entirely very quickly. But I feel less "cluttered" simply by taking the step of focusing on one piece of technology at a time. If I'm watching something interesting on TV I don't have my laptop open and surf the web. I also no longer engage in my long term practice of reading during TV commercials. I found I remember what I've read much better this way and don't feel "cluttered." I simply can't multitask with different technologies and do any task as effectively.

The only negative aspect of this book is that I found Powers repeated himself, sometimes verbatim, on more than one occasion. I found one instance where he repeated himself verbatim on two consecutive pages. That was a little off putting but not really extremely annoying.

Overall this is an outstanding book if you're willing to come to it with an open mind and be willing to find fault with your own interactions with technology, and also not come to it with a pre-disposed notion that the author's just going to rant about technology being evil for a couple hundred pages.

Hamlet's Blackberry Rings True
William Powers delivers a thoughtful and engaging dialogue with the reader. With ease, he guides through the question of how to be both connected to technology "screens" and remain connected to one's inner self. This intriguing journey of the history of "big" ideas begins in Athens with Socrates amdist the bustle city life and glides through the centuries to today's world.There are six historical figures whose lives are explored in relation to their times and the technological innovations that arise within them, alternately resisted and then embraced. Mr. Powers reveals the ways in which his legendary historical icons made authentic and individual choices. This exploration includes the conclusions that he has arrived at with his family to lead a richer emotional and intellectual life - connected to technology and not. The book, in essence, is a modern exploration of creativity, happiness, and being true to oneself in an ever-changing human-driven quest for more. The only thing I missed with this book was not having the author in the room to talk it over with while I was reading it. I highly recommend this book.

A good addition to the conversation but not the final word
I was going to simply say that I get much of the same message I found in "Hamlet's Blackberry" from several of the blogs I read, but maybe that could be seen as missing the point. If you need a book reference or two instead, how about Everett Bogue's The Art of Being Minimalist: How to Stop Consuming and Start Living or Leo Babauta's forthcoming print and e-book "Focus: A Simplicity Manifesto in the Age of Distraction." The point is that author William Powers' essential recommendation -- unplug! -- has been offered before, and in much less space.

What does set this book apart is the author's exploration of seven "philosophers of screens," men whose ideas and actions in eras of technological upheaval have, Powers argues, something worthwhile to teach us about the times we live in today. I think the argument makes sense, and Powers' profiles of Shakespeare, Thoreau, Franklin and others are interesting and his conclusions valid. Still, it did kind of strike me as a long way to go in order to get to the recommendation "Turn off your 'screens' and go live a life." "Hamlet's Blackberry" is a nice addition to the ongoing discussion of "how digital technology has turned the workplace into a war zone for the mind" (p. 158) and how we should adapt to, or change, that. But I think it's just that: an addition to the discussion, not a definitive answer to the underlying questions.

I do, however, love that there is a Kindle edition of "Hamlet's Blackberry."

A Good Idea But...
I was intrigued by the idea of a book that discussed the problem of information overload from a historical perspective. However, after reading this book I came away with the feeling that there was not enough new information to justify the time spent reading it.

The author's premise is excellent. Examine times of profound change in communication and speculate how famous historical figures would cope with the change. Unfortunately, what the author did was repeat the same message for every chapter: change happens and we need to physically or mentally disconnect from the crowd. Another thing that was bothersome was the author interjecting his personal experiences randomly throughout the book.

Read the book if you want, but don't expect to gain any serious insight.

Hamlet's LackBerry
Q: Do you check your e-mail several times an hour?
A: No, every two months or so.
Q: While checking e-mail are you distracted by advertising, celebrity gossip, or your Facebook status?
A: Nope.
Q: Do you get nervous if you're more than a few feet from your smartphone?
A: No, my phone and I are both dumb.

'Hamlet's Blackberry' just wasn't the book for me.It is admittedly a great title, but I couldn't empathize with the repetitive message- that constant electronic bombardment is transforming us into shallow automatons- and the conclusion Powers reaches after 230 pages is to designate the weekends as internet and phone-free. To frame such a revelation as a book, a philosophy, or even radical, is rather silly when you consider that, yes, they are still manufacturing these devices with OFF switches.In George Orwell's future dystopia the telescreens could not be shut off, and in North Korea over a billion loudspeakers propagandize 24/7; but pop-ups and Twitter seem a far cry from totalitarianism, and in the case of Iran these may be the very tools of its undoing.
If 'Hamlet's Blackberry' were the first William Powers book I had read, then at any price it would have been the last, but fortunately I recently read '12 x 12' a book about Powers spending a year off the grid in a tiny cabin, and it was a beautifully written personality-expanding charmer that I reviewed at 5 stars.'Hamlet's Blackberry' seemed more like a great essay somehow stretched into a book.
The book's diabolical opening is in some type of white room that you can't escape, a nightmarish scenario of electronic omnipresence, ugh, I'm skim-reading already,and it's page two!Something has been made of the seven philosophical excursions taken midway through the book: Plato, Seneca, Gutenberg, Hamlet, Ben Franklin, Thoreau, and Marshall McLuhan.The Plato chapter read well and threatened to lift the book by its own bootstraps, but using Gutenberg as an example of how the medium that the author makes a living in contributes to the debasement of society is unusual at best.The larger impact of McLuhan's Global Village is unexplored; if Facebook were a nation it would be the third most populous on earth, and Twitter took on enormous importance during the Iranian resistance- these are societal transformations as radical as Gutenberg's bible or the invention of the telegraph- and are completely bypassed by Powers on his way to complaining about his inbox receiving 150 entries overnight (he compulsively checks them all no doubt, let me guess, Buy Viaggra! Cheap Cialiss!)
As a guest on Bill Maher recently pointed out, there have always been wastes of time, and the type of person who wastes hours online probably grew up wasting hours in front of the tv, in fact television viewership is down as interactive social media are on the rise, and surely interconnectivity is better than isolation.And finally, chances are, if you're sitting down with a 250-page book purportedly framing a digital philosophy, then you're already saved!
Here's my digital world-view for free:
Turn it off.
Ignore it.
... Read more

Product Description

For Introductory Philosophy Courses.

An introductory philosophy text that covers all the major fields of philosophy in easy-to-read language, interspersed with short selections from the major philosophers.  The text has been a best-selling leader in the field for more than thirty years.  It is written by an internationally recognized author of more than twenty books.  He is an important voice in social and political philosophy, Immanuel Kant's philosophy, and the philosophy of education.

Customer Reviews (7)

Great Seller
Book was in great condition, and got to me very quickly. Very pleased with seller, and would recommend.

Review of Seller on Philosophy Textbook
Great condition and fast shipping!Would strongly recommend anyone else to buy from this seller.

Terrible Text Book for a Beginner
This is one of the worst text books I have ever had to read and try to understand.Used this text for an online class -- tough subject to figure out on one's own and the text, laden with the author's opinion and stories, made it difficult to weed out what was important and what was crap.I had to use a different, older Philosophy text book as a guide to understand what Wolf was trying to convey in this text.I thouht I was going to enjoy philosophy--I'm counting the days until I don't have to open this book ever again!

gooses review
This book will teach you nothing about philosophy.I would have given this book a negative star review but thats not an option on this grading scale.The most common theme in this book is telling you how philosophers work.they tell you a step by step processes that are oversimplified and can be combined to make less steps or in some cases one step.what is important in philosophy is what the questions are then what the suggested answers are and finally how to understand how to come to the suggested answer.

I would reccomend a book called sophies world which is advertised as a story ( that is really boring ) but is actually a text book that does what I suggested earlier.if you can force yourself to read through sophies world you will actually learn something about philosophy.Anyone who reads this book will notice there is a lot of information that was just added in to make the textbook long enough to be considered a text book.one example is how the book tells us that platos written work is considered a philosophical work as opposed to a work of art.wow how important.another problem is the definition format.instead of explaining a philosophical aspect they just waste the readers time an example of this is aristotles term catharsis which is "a cleansing or purging"the book could have just stated that some people feel plays arouse emotions while others feel they purge emotions and then explained the argument behind both views.

A Professor's Perspective
Wolff's perennial textbook, now in its eighth edition, has faults. This is a given for any book or other work in the print medium, and, for that matter, for any human artifact. Nevertheless, after teaching philosophy for thirty-six years using everything from classic sources to newspapers to novels as texts, I have settled on Wolff's About Philosophy as the best means for introducting the most diverse of all academic disciplines.
Naturally, the book reflects the author's interests and preferences, although these are never presented as truths above debate. In fact, Wolff reveals his willingness to revise his own traditional, Western preferences for rationality-based theoretical constructs devised (virtually solely) by those of the male gender. Objectivity, too, comes up for careful scrutiny and, ultimately, rejection as an appropriate property of an acceptable philosophical theory.
In the end, About Philosophy is both a highly personal, and yet, a highly accurate documentation of 2500 years of philosophical speculation and research. Its faults may include that, in spite of its thoroughness and clarity, it does not summarize the views of every philosopher and movement in the Western tradition. No volume, introductory or not, could accomplish this, but the ideas selected by Wolff are clearly among the
germinal springboards for the entirety of Western Civilization. ... Read more

Product Description
This comprehensive introductory text with readings offers a historical overview of all major subdivisions of Western Philosophy perspectives--including both the analytic and Continental traditions--as well as Eastern philosophy, postcolonial philosophy, and feminist philosophy. Written in an engaging and captivating style, it makes philosophy accessible without oversimplifying the material, and shows that philosophy's powerful ideas affect the lives of real people. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Great Book!
Bought this textbook for school, but I must say that the way it is written it could clearly be a book for any type of reading, not just for school. Easy to understand, great explanations/examples of metaphysics and philosophical ideas. If you are even remotely interested in philosophy and really want to understand it, this book will help you dive right in and give you a great lesson! It will definitely make you think and use your brain like you've never used it before... hands down a book to keep on the shelf!

Rach's Opinion
The product is great to have because it talks about the philosophers in more detail.

Valuable Asset
This book is easy to read, informative, engaging, and provides the reader with a solid foundation in philosophy. Historically rich in resources, it leaves the student with a knowledge base that is able to branch out into several sociological and scientific disciplines as is central to philosophy. Purchased as a textbook for class, and definitely a keeper.

Used Textbook
The book was in good condition.My only problem was the shipping time.It took about 2 weeks to arrive.My daughter needed it sooner than later.If I knew that it was going to take that long, I would have paid extra for the express shipping.

Nice price
I was impressed at the price but fretted about what it would look like when he came. I shouldn't have been worried. It was in great shape. I was very pleased! ... Read more

Product Description
Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings, Fifth Edition, is the most comprehensive topically organized collection of classical and contemporary philosophy available. Ideal for introductory philosophy courses, the text includes sections on God and evil, knowledge and reality, the philosophy of science, the mind/body problem, freedom of will, consciousness, ethics, political philosophy, existential issues, and philosophical puzzles and paradoxes. Insightful introductions to each part, study questions after each reading selection, and an extensive glossary of philosophical terms help make the readings more accessible to students.

Revised and updated to make it more pedagogical, the fifth edition incorporates boldfaced key terms (listed after each reading and defined in the glossary); a guide to writing philosophy papers; and a "Logical Toolkit," which lists and explains common terminology used in philosophical reasoning. This edition also features five new readings and a separate section on existential issues. In addition, the book is accompanied by supplementary materials that enhance its utility. An updated Instructor's Manual and Testbank on CD contains sample syllabi, sample exam questions, summaries of each reading, and additional pedagogical tools. A Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/perry features the same material included in the Instructor's Manual and Testbank. It also links to a separate site for students, which offers multiple-choice self-quizzes; pedagogical material; and an interactive blog featuring recommended websites, news articles, helpful anecdotes, and interviews. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Awesome!
One thing, I didn't like was that it took a while for it to get here but other than that, Its just like a new book! I loved that it was well taken care of and like I said it was just like a new book, one or two highlighter marks but thats not a biggie! Love it!

A Good Option for Intro Philosophy Classes
Introduction to Philosophy is a comprehensive, lengthy anthology of basic readings in classic and contemporary philosophy.If you buy this product, you'll get selected writings from Descartes, Leibniz, Perry, Plato, Hume, Pascal, Turing, Chisholm, Frankfurt, Mackie, Camus, plus more.

One feature I particularly enjoyed was the "On the Study of Philosophy" section at the beginning of the text.That section basically takes a step back and answers the questions, "Why even bother studying this stuff?" and "What the heck is philosophy?" before diving into complex and mind-bending material.

Table of Contents
I. Philosophy and the Meaning of Life
II. God and Evil
III. Knowledge and Reality
IV. Minds, Bodies, and Persons
V. Ethics and Society
VI. Existential Issues ... Read more

Product Description
This general history of philosophy, written in an accessible style, focuses on Western philosophy, but also discusses non-Western philosophical traditions. The authors cover major philosophers and movements as well as minor but interesting figures. They treat serious religious thought as philosophical, and include information about the Jewish, Christian, and other religious traditions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Robert Solomon intro to philosophy
Hard to go wrong with Robert Solomon and (his wife) Kathleen Higgins as your guides. This short history of philosophy can be wholeheartedly recommended to those looking for exactly what the title promises. Short maybe, but the book covers a lot of ground. It is up to the high standards of the authors.

It should be known to all students that Professor Solomon did excellent courses with an "adult education" company called The Teaching Company that offers the public college level courses on DVD, CD and audio download. His course on existentialism titled "No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life" and his course on Nietzsche are both excellent. And no I don't work for the company but I am a customer and can strongly recommend Solomon's courses.

As an additional but interesting side note, Solomon appeared in "animated" form in the film "Waking Life" directed by Richard Linklater who is a former student. For his part Solomon discusses the continued relevancy of existential philosophy and contrasts it with the vacuity of postmodern thinkers whose work leaves out the 1st person perspective and essential agency of the individual. Anyway, fun little film.

Robert Solomon died in 2007 but his work will serve students well for years to come.

an engaging survey of the history of ideas

As engagingly written as is Russell's A HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY (please see my review on this one), yet far more compelling as far as being less biased and covering much of the terrain not covered by Russell. Solomon and Higgins are thoroughly intimate with the history of world philosophies, and thus write with authority, fairness, and some well placed humor that keep the narrations lively.

This excellent book is meant to be a brief history of ideas, and it is certainly that; yet, it is also an engaging survey of the world's history of ideas as they are embedded in the life and times of the thinkers too. The tone of the writing is succinct and straightforward, punctuated with some sophisticated wit at the appropriate moments. You can tell both authors are very comfortable with their styles, and the reader is pulled along into the current of the book (they have written six books together, so the flow is excellent.)

I especially enjoyed the discussions of Socrates, Montaigne, Pragmatism, and the all-to-brief sketch of Postmodernism. Since the readability factor is high, the authors even bring life to such ponderous subjects as Immanuel Kant and the Scholastic philosophers. Even though this is a cursory survey of philosophical thought, these lively, condensed versions of the life and times of the philosophers provide a lucid and satisfying excursion into the former epochs of our intellectual history.

Most highly recommended.

Parataxis

The Cloud Reckoner

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

A Perfect Second or Third Survey
This is a much better-written book than one would expect from philosophers.Considering the number of philosophers and complexity of their thought, A Short History of Philosophy is marvelously clear and concise.

Another plus to the book is that is really does give you the *whole* story.Normal surveys just handpick a few of the authors' philosophical favorites, but Solomon and Higgins give us just about everybody.Further, they don't rule out a thinker just because s/he doesn't fit within the bounds of what some narrowly define as real philosophy -- Confucius, Jesus, and Muslim theologians all get a place at the table, so there is no bias toward the West or against 'religion.'

This inclusiveness is part of the book's goal to constructively redefine philosophy.Our authors want philosophy to be ultimately about the love of wisdom, which gives them a very different agenda than that which is most common in America today.Pervasive Enlightenment rationalism often dismisses issues of wisdom and morality and trumpets reason and proof, but in so doing it must both cover up its foundations (which are terribly un-Enlightened) and, worse, give up the very reason for rational inquiry.This book's vision of/for philosophy and its subsequent treatment of the various philosophers is truly admirable.

Unfortunately, the problem with talking about everybody is that, well, you end up talking about *everybody*.That means that after you've put the book down you will have been so inundated with individuals that you won't remember anything in particular.For this reason, I highly recommend coming to this book with a bit of a background in philosophy.Grab an overview that will introduce you to a few of the big names -- Plato, Aristotle, and so on -- and then use this book to fill in that story.

In sum:The writing is readable, its orientation is commendable, and its content is superb.You can learn a lot from this book, even if you won't come away from it remembering all the details of which philosopher said what.

Solomon Rocks!
This book is amazing and written extremely well. I would highly recommended it to anyone who loves philosophy!

Philosophy to Go
Authors Solomon and Higgins have written a very readable history of philosophy matching philosopher's names with a brief explanation of their pet concepts. They cover too much ground really; by the time I finished the book, I had been exposed to so many ideas and philosophers that I remembered hardly any of them. They should have just covered the major philosophers of one period in depth if they expected many readers to remember anything. But this is a good reference book; I wrote some philosophers down and maybe I may read a couple of their primary works over a lifetime. This is also a good book for the intellectually lazy but mildly curious people who want to be exposed to philosophy without having to go through the pain of reading the profound primary sources. Higgins and Solomon have already done that for you; they have allegedly read these philosophers' books and have reported back with bit-sized morsels of information about their different philosophies. Some of the philosophies seem important, others might leave you wondering why anyone would waste a lifetime worrying about such a subject.

Many different kinds of philosphers are covered whether they be boring, charismatic, bolshevik, dangerous, obfuscating, bloodless, blasphemous, godly, mathematical, humanistic, elitest, egalitarian, arrogant, irritable, humble, obscure, famous, rich, poor, establishment, anti-establishment, heretical, dogmatic, flexible, incomprehensible, annoying, pleasant, hypocritical, scientific, kooky, or intellectually dishonest. I don't really have time to explain all of them in depth. ... Read more

Product Description
The individual volumes of Sir Anthony Kenny's acclaimed History of Western Philosophy have been hailed as "wonderfulauthoritativehugely rewarding" (Times Higher Education Supplement) and "genial and highly accessible" (London Review of Books). Now these four splendid books have been combined into one magnificent volume, providing a continuous sweeping account of the great thought of the Western world. Here readers will find not only an authoritative guide to the history of philosophy, but also a compelling introduction to every major area of philosophical inquiry. Kenny tells the story of philosophy chronologically, his lively narrative bringing the great philosophers to life and filling in the historical and intellectual background to their work. Kenny also looks closely at each of the main areas of philosophical exploration: knowledge and understanding; science; metaphysics; mind and soul; the nature and content of morality; political philosophy; and God. A New History of Western Philosophy is a stimulating chronicle of the intellectual development of Western civilization, allowing readers to trace the birth and growth of philosophy from antiquity to the present day. ... Read more

Product Description
If you think Saddam and Satan are a kinky couple, wait ‘til you get a load of South Park and Philosophy. Like Mr. Hanky at Christmas, this is a book whose time has come. On the cheesy poof-stained pages within, 22 philosophers address perennial questions such as, Is Dan Rather real? Should Big Gay Al be allowed to marry Mr. Slave? And, of course, what does philosophy have to do with flatulence? M’kay. Current concerns are also considered. Are American voters inevitably forced to choose between a turd and a douche? Does South Park’s blasphemous humor go too far? If it’s OK to ridicule Islam, is it OK to skewer Scientology? How does Cartmanland raise the problem of evil?

If you like Chef’s salty balls, you’ll love this book—unless of course you’re a damn hippie. In which case, you go to hell… you go to hell and you die! So get your Big Wheels ready and, whether you’ve got one or four assess, we’re goin’ for a ride! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

South Park and Philosophy: You Know I Learned Something Today! More than just a book.
The Book-South Park and Philosophy: You Know I Learned Something Today! This book is humor, philosophy and a great reason to own a comprehensive dictionary. As a couch potato this book now is an accompany to my time at the fitness center while on a treadmill or doing numerous sit ups. My assessment of this book could not be fair since I am not someone who reads more than 3 hours a day. There are books that envelope most of my day but either way "South Park Philosophy" is entertaining and educating and this particular book is a testament for free speech and how an animated adult comedy addresses situations that have probably been around since written history. -Craig Barr.

Screw you guys I'm going home
Who would have thought that a show about four boys from a redneck hick town in Colorado would be around 11 years after offending it's first audience? Let alone spark scholarly conversation and debate.

You don't need to adjust your computer monitor, I did just mention South Park in the same breath as intellectuals. The show that spurned every ethnic group from Mormons to Christians, social and disabled groups and drove Chef to quit with their infamous Scientology episode has sparked a series of philosophical debates in South Park and Philosophy, You Know I Learned Something Today.

In 22 separate essays, philosophers and sociologists churn up reasoning from Freud to Socrates to give reason to a show that often lacks a moral conscious.

The essay that I found most fascinating was Vote or Die Bitch by John Scott Gray. Part of the reason that it stood out so much was that I read it during the election. In the end all of our choices turned out to be, in Stan's words between a turd sandwich and a douche. The rational by Gray actually showed that in a roundabout way, change is really just something old coming back into fashion. Much like those awesome sweaters that you have hiding in storage.

While the book was a quick read, some of the discussions were over the head of philosophical novices like myself, I would suggest checking it out if you are a fan of the show.

I did learn something
Great book and intro to philosophy.While a bit heavy in parts, it does get you to think and gives you some material for defending the greatness that is South Park to its critics.

eh
More focus on philosophy than South Park--- not that there's anything wrong with that, but it makes for rather dry reading. I prefer "South Park and Philosophy" as edited by Richard Hanley. Much lighter, and often laugh-out-loud funny.

You know, it COULD'VE been better...
But then so could a lot of other things. Like the government... people's attitudes... the taste of a lot of tacos...

You can't really help it; some things fall expectations.

When you look at this book's cover, you brace yourself for hilarious comedy. If you read enough you know that there was a book for the Simpsons relating the show to philosophy. It was just South Park's turn.

Now, it's true that the individual writers could've gone more in depth with a few topics. Personally, I feel like the "gender and sexuality" chapter should've been MUCH longer. But it did explain relevant aspects of philosophy in terms the layman could understand. I mean, come on, what better concept is there than using South Park to relate to philosophy? It bares the bones on a lot of terminology and historical (as well as contemporary) figures in the field and it even lets you feel like you're smart for watching South Park (because it's SO philosophical, really!)

I may sound sarcastic, but I'm a fan of the show. There's a reason why they resort to that humor a lot of the time - you've just got to poke fun at both sides in the most extremist of fashions.

The book is divided into chapters, whereupon those chapters are written by different people, Arp himself included. Different writing styles, different lengths to the chapters, and always a unique voice that keeps in mind how absurd the series is - and loves it.

If you're a fan and you'd like to know more about philosophy, pick up the book - it wouldn't hurt. Philosophy majors might see things wrong with the book, but come on, 261 pages can't honestly harness all philosophy has to offer. And it's South Park. There's only so much material you can milk out of it to compare to Nietzsche.

All in all, it was a good book. Entertaining. Certainly not a textbook on the subject but then again, it's not meant to be. It's comparing a cartoon show in which a character dies at every episode and comes back to life mysteriously in the beginning of the next with no questions asked.

Pick it up! ... Read more

Product Description
The first look at the philosophical issues behind Charlaine Harris's New York Times bestsellers The Southern Vampire Mysteries and the True Blood television series

Teeming with complex, mythical characters in the shape of vampires, telepaths, shapeshifters, and the like, True Blood, the popular HBO series adapted from Charlaine Harris's bestselling The Southern Vampire Mysteries, has a rich collection of themes to explore, from sex and romance to bigotry and violence to death and immortality. The goings-on in the mythical town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, where vampires satiate their blood lust and openly commingle with ordinary humans, present no shortages of juicy metaphysical morsels to sink your teeth into.

Now True Blood and Philosophy calls on the minds of some of history's great thinkers to perform some philosophical bloodletting on such topics as Sookie and the metaphysics of mindreading; Maryann and sacrificial religion; werewolves, shapeshifters and personal identity; vampire politics, evil, desire, and much more.

• The first book to explore the philosophical issues and themes behind the True Blood novels and television series
• Adds a new dimension to your understanding of True Blood characters and themes
• The perfect companion to the start of the third season on HBO and the release of the second season on DVD

Smart and entertaining, True Blood and Philosophy provides food—or blood—for thought, and a fun, new way to look at the series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Interesting but intellectually fluffy
While certainly enjoyable, this book only scrapes the surface of true philosophical thought.Clearly written for the non-intellectual or only casually interested.It is certainly interesting and fun as a diversion, but I personally believe the philosophy of True Blood is far more complex than this book claims.

A Lot Better and More Useful than Expected
I'm a huge fan of True Blood but also a professor about to use Dead Until Dark in First Year Seminar, so I was hopeful of using some of this text in class.Honestly I was expecting the same sort of limited level I've come to expect from these books.No offense to the Philosophy community, but they are certainly books useful only in philosophy classes since most of the material in previous texts has been marginally clever but mainly...well argument for argument's sake.

This text will not give the real fan of the show anything new or enlightening, in fact if you are a fan of both the novels and the show you will find a few plots mistakes.But there are a couple of articles, especially Dressing Up and Playing Human or To Turn or Not to Turn, that I found fun and interesting.Both articles would work for non-fans of the show and asked some interesting questions that would translate well to a first year classroom (even if they offered no credible answers - why do philosophers like to talk in circles so much?!)

Again this is not ground-breaking stuff, it's more along the lines of articles these academics seem to have written because they are fans of the show and needed to get something published for their cvs (no offense but you know it's true).There are very few sources, and I'm not convinced that, as a group, they know much about vampires beyond this particular show or the novels.I kept thinking about how much better a chapter like Joseph Foy's Signed in Blood would have been if he had more material on the history of the vampire and personal rights.Plus I doubt these would have been published anywhere else with the extremely limited scholarship demonstrated.But it had me nodding my head on occasion and laughing out loud (well okay smiling) once or twice.

I'm glad I read it and I'm pleased that it might be worth using in class.But honestly if you are as much of a vampire nerd as I am who sees True Blood as part of a longer tradition, then you won't learn anything new.I say buy it, as someone who has a philosopher as a best friend I know how hard it is for these guys to translate their thoughts for a populist audience.Plus it's a lot better than the other two books on the show I wasted my money on (yes I'm talking about you Fangbanger's Guide & Truly Madly Deeply.)

3 stars for content and 1 more for effort.

Bland, repetitive, boring
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars because although the writers are educated academics or professor types (therefore they are legit).. their writing is scattered and hard to follow. In some chapters they start discussing a philosophy by Sartre or Socrates, but thenthey don't seem go in depth and the chapter kind of drifts off with the feeling that it's unended.
Now... i'm not a philosophy buff so it could be that i simply don't see what they're implying, however they should make the reading of the passages more simplified, with more concrete example for us fans of the show. After all... we are not philosophers. I read the book twice, just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Another gripe I had about this book is that they used the same 5 examples over and over in every chapter, which made it feel very washed out and boring. They should have chosen a broader range of examples from the books and movie.
Some of the passages WERE interesting, like the 1st chapter about choice. The author of that chapter really went into detail about choice, and what it means, and who gets to choose, and the different levels. Excellent JOB! It was also well written. Many chapters just sucked, like the author didn't see the show or read the books AT ALL.

Rather watch the show
Though I am a big fan of the series, I honestly wasn't a big fan of of the book. I guess I wasn't expecting something so utterly philosophical and educational. It read too much like a text book and with me not being in college anymore, I really didn't want to think that hard on the series.

I can imagine this would be a good book to use in an actual philosophy course in college. It would be a relateable topic for the youth of today!

True Blood and Philosophy--a good book for doing bad things
What makes this a useful book for approaching the Sookie Stackhouseverse is the editors centered the discussions around the Jace Everett song: by subtitling the work, "I wanna do bad things with you" they have clued us to the ethical arguments of their work, along with the novels and Television show.True Blood's popularity as an HBO show as well as Harris' rising star in the contemporary fantasy genre resulting from it, make a work that centers on the ethical, religious and philosophical conundrum an essential for anyone using either the TV show or one of the novels in the classroom.Students love to discuss the complexities of intellectual and moral ideas and True Blood abounds in both.Dunn and Housel's selection of essays will give anyone want to teach or learn what the depths these novels are a good jumping off place.It is not exhaustive in that the essays do not address all of the novels in the series to date but it does address the earlier novels as well as the first two seasons of the show.I would not be surprised if the editors create a companion volume in a few more years addressing the remaining novels; it would be a welcome companion in any library as is this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Acclaimed as the "best overview in the field" by the Teaching Philosophy and predicted to "become the standard textbook in philosophy of education" by Educational Theory, this now-classic text includes an entirely new chapter on problems of school reform, examining issues of equality, accountability, standards, and testing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Very good
Arrived on time, in very good (new) condition.Very happy with purchase...would order from this company again.

Dewey's a God
If you like Dewey,you will like this book.In this book Dewey is a God.In the first chapter as the author reviews different philosophers, he keeps going back to Dewey.There were parts where I was confused because I didn't know if the author was referring to Dewey or another philosopher.

Basic Text
I'm using this book as a basic information text. I'[m preparing for an introduction to education class and needed to review the basic philosophies for one of the lessons. While not exhaustive, it provided me with that.

Watch out for the printing fault
My copy of the 2nd Edition contains a large section of pages that have been duplicated and the pages that should be there are missing. The book seems good other than that, but check your copy for this fault immediately upon delivery. I would have given it a good rating if not for this fault.

First versus Second Edition
A decent text introducing at least the basic framework for philosophical
positions to those without a lot of philosophy background. Nice to use
as a secondary text supplementing primary texts. One things to make sure of, however; get the second edition and not the first. I ordered a used edition thinking that it would be the second edition as Amazon has grouped it. It wasn't however. The first edition's last chapter is on feminism whereas the second's is on school reform. I am now going to have to order another one because of Amazon's screw up! ... Read more

Product Description
Chris Horner and Emrys Westacott present a clear and accessible introduction to some of the central problems of philosophy through challenging and stimulating the reader to think beyond the conventional answers to fundamental questions. No previous knowledge is assumed, and in lively and provocative chapters the authors invite the reader to explore questions about the nature of science, religion, ethics, politics, art, the mind, the self, knowledge and truth. Each chapter includes inset boxes providing links to classic philosophy texts on the issues discussed. In addition, the book relates the adventure of philosophy to some of the key principles of critical thinking. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Putting the ox before the cart.
It is surprising that more introductory philosophy books are not structured like the Horner and Westacott book "Thinking Through Philosophy".The book is segmented into the major branches or problems of philosophy.Each problem is examined and the relevant work done on the problem is introduced to the reader.Historical information and biographical content on the original thinkers are presented where applicable, but only in minimal amounts to round out the analysis of the subject being dealt with.This is a great strength of the book.People new to philosophy have to first be introduced to the ideas and questions that are central in the field.It makes no sense to bog down the new student with detailed histories and biographies on each philosopher.Philosophy is definitely a case where the "crawl, walk, run" rule is necessary to follow.

With that said, after reading this book, the reader should have a decent grounding in the major philosophical questions, terminology, and methods.From here, one can branch off and begin exploring individual philosophers and read works for themselves.If you are new to the field, this book is an effective tool in moving you towards that level of study.

A better approach than most philosophy books
Most introductory Philosophy books provide you with a list of various philosophers throughout time and give you an overview of their thoughts. If this is the type of book you are looking for then try "Story of Philosophy" or "Spark Notes 101 Philosophy". However, I believe this approach misses something.

I found that a far better approach was to provide the reader with the major areas and questions addressed by philosophers and then use reason and logic to examine those areas and questions. When appropriate a major philosophers views on a question being examined should then be provided. Here are some sample philosophical areas and questions:

- Logic: How do we think? Inductive and Deductive Reason, etc.
- Epistemology: Is knowledge possible? How do we "know"?
- Metaphysics: What is reality and what exists? What is truth?
- Ethics: What is right and wrong? Are values relative?
- Aesthetics: What is Art? Does true beauty exist?
- Politcs: How should we be governed? Are we our brothers keeper?
- Religion: Does God exist? Do we have freewill?

Finding these questions and coming up with your own answers is what philosophy is truly about.

The first book I found that took this approach was "Philosophy For Dummies". Unfortunately the author is very religious and that comes through strongly in his book. I remember reading this book and loving the way he layed out the questions, but wishing there was another book out there that was written from a non-religious standpoint.

"Thinking through Philosophy" is exactly the book for which I was looking. It lays out the major questions of philosophy and provides you with different approaches to answering these questions. I particularly like his arguements for the philosophies of idealism and relativism even though I still disagree with both (the authors definately make you think). The only critisism I have is that some basic knowledge is assumed. For example, the topic of skeptism was handled far more thouroughly in "Philosophy For Dummies".

If I were rating this book as a first book on philosophy I would only give it 4 stars, but as a second or later philosophy book I definately give it 5 stars. I really liked this book. (For a first book I would still recommend "Philosophy For Dummies" even though I'm agnostic/athiest. If you already believe in a higher power then definately read it first.)

This Book Does Not Exist
There is a lot of competition on the market for books such as this - namely, attempting to provide an overview of philosophy and the core disciplines it encompasses.

This book is one of the best. By way of illustration, its chapter on Morality & Ethics is outstanding - a masterful introduction/overview given such limited allocation; a real achievement.

Most philosophy is circular pursuit of the vestigial tail - utterly futile and without utility (but it succeeds in sustaining academic careers & easy earnings...). `Philosophers' `contributing' by analysing mind or knowledge or science?What a joke. Philosophy is somewhat fraudulent - it has always made a pallid meal of that other great fraud - Religion & the Existence of God. It is inadequate to most such tasks and merely ends up discussing itself.

However, within the realm of Philosophy, Morality & Ethics undoubtedly has much utility and value and is a worthwhile pursuit.

The best of these books have a knack of getting readers to begin the process of their own reflections, insights and opinions of the subject disciplines and this `Thinking Through Philosophy' achieves well.

The book covers: Theory of knowledge (Epistemology); Moral Philosophy; Philosophy of Religion; Philosophy of Mind; Political Philosophy; Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Aesthetics; and Metaphysics.

If you are looking for an introduction-primer-aide memoir, consider this work.

Beyond such books, both the Blackwell Companions & the Blackwell Guides, are consistently outstanding and good value for money. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (59)

Just a collection of writers' masterbatorial essays.
If you expect anything of use or of practical value in your life,save your money.
Primarily, it seem to be a forum for writers' to show off their style with little
regard for their readers.Perhaps they thought it would impress the editors.
After reading "Five Secrets you Must Discover Before You Die" and Tom' Brokaw's
"The Greatest Generation", this was a terrible let down.

Great Essays, but I wouldn't buy it if I were you.
I absolutely love This I Believe. It is one of my favorite radio program, and I think everyone needs to listen to it from time to time.When I saw that my university had chosen this for their "Freshman Connections" book, I was psyched.It really is a magnificent book.Two thumbs way, way up.But don't waste your money on it.Go to thisibelieve.org and listen to the podcasts for free.They're so much more moving that way.

A very nice, easy read that will set you to thinking about your own belief statement
I have always enjoyed the "This I Believe" essays I've managed to catch on NPR.For me, listening to the essays in the audio format, in the author's voice definitely adds to the impact of the essays.That said, the written essays are still worthwhile and inspiring reading. Several of them really made an impact.For example, as a Christian, I wouldn't have expected the essay by atheist Penn Jillette to be among my favorites.But he states his beliefs, or non-beliefs, so well that I now have a different understanding and respect for those who don't believe in God - though my beliefs remain unchanged.The essays are short, most being 2 to 2-1/2 pages in length.This makes for an easy read, particularly for those who have limited uninterrupted reading time.It's easy to pick up the book, read an essay or two in their entirety, and then put the book down again when duty calls.If you're not sure whether you want to spend money on this book, check it out from your local public library - I did.

a worthwhile purchase
The multiple cds made a perfect gift for friends who were driving cross country. Good for kids and adults alike.

(:
I received the book in perfect condition! It looks brand new even though i bought it used. The book is also great I bought it originally for english class but it's something i also enjoy reading on my own time. ... Read more

Product Description
This classic text-reader introduces readers to the fundamental, timeless, and pressing questions of philosophy.The authors make the issues accessible for students with primary source readings incorporated into clearly written text material and an extensive pedagogical program that includes running summaries, high-interest boxes, biographies, epigrams, a philosophical dictionary.The new edition has been streamlined and revised to include a new chapter on Democracy, which expands the coverage of the ever-evolving realm of social and political philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

my book!
what i loved about this sender was i got my book fast within a week and a half. im pretty sure i would of gotten it sooner if it wasnt for the labor day holiday. bt overall it was great and my book is in great condition. almost new

Review of Questions that Matter: An Invitation to Philosophy
It was in great condition, the ed. is not the one i needed for the class but it had all the stuff the 6th ed. had plus extra stuff they took out. I'm happy with it.

Advise that matters
Do not buy this book. My professor selected this title for our introductory class, but two days into the course students were asking for alternative textbooks to buy. The book fails, big time, in explaining basic concepts and uses terminology that for an introductory class needs to be explained. I also agree with the other reviewer mention about the excessive amount of "copying and pasting" from other books. A disaster. I wish I could give it 0 stars.

No secular chip on my shoulder
This was my college text for Intro to Philosophy in the early '90s and I enjoyed it a lot.The concepts were presented clearly and in a logical order.An introductory course should give a student an overview and a "ground floor" to build on, should the student wish to go on.In fact I ordered a copy of this textbook for my college-sophmore son - his professor only has original source material from three philosophers for an INTRO course, which seems narrow and overwhelming.

The Best Introduction To Philosophy Textbook Available
I have taught courses in philosophy and religion for the past 15 years at several colleges and universities in Southern California. I have dozens of introduction to philosophy textbooks in my personal library (instructor complementary review copies from various publishers). For several years I struggled to find a textbook that would buttress my diligent efforts to teach philosophy to young men and women in a challenging and stimulating fashion. By far, the best introduction to philosophy textbook I have ever seen or used is Ed Miller's outstanding book QUESTIONS THAT MATTER (hereafter QTM). Allow me to mention six reasons why this book is truly an exceptional textbook in philosophy.

First, QTM strikes an excellent balance between scholarly content on one hand, and a readable writing style on the other. A motivated and reflective college student will come away from this volume with a thorough and understandable introductory knowledge of the discipline of philosophy.

Second, QTM provides a comprehensive introduction to philosophy by introducing the student to the major branches or fields of philosophy, including metaphysics (study of reality), epistemology (study of knowledge), ethics (study of the good), logic (study of correct reasoning), and philosophy of religion (critical analysis about God).

Third, while QTM is organized in a topical manner, it includes a wealth of information about all of the leading philosophers of the Western world, including relevant excerpts from the various philosophers' writings in their major fields of contribution. This text also includes brief but very informative mini-biographies of the leading philosophers.

Fourth, QTM as a textbook promotes solid learning through the helpful use of charts, diagrams, and providing the definitions of key terms through the use of various pull quotes throughout the volume. In addition, the text provides a useful and extensive glossary of philosophical terms.

Fifth, QTM is written by an author who holds doctoral degrees in both philosophy and in theology. The result is a textbook that addresses the field of philosophy of religion in a very sophisticated and even-handed manner. Arguments both for and against God are clearly presented and logically evaluated. The best philosophers on both sides of the God question are quoted.

Sixth, QTM devotes an entire chapter to helping the student become familiar with the basic principles and arguments of logic. Since philosophy is defined [by the author] as "the attempt to think rationally and critically about the most important questions," this chapter presents logic in a concise and clear way.

As a college instructor, I give QTM my highest recommendation. I recommend it to teachers and students alike. Thank you Dr. Miller for writing such a clear and insightful book that introduces students and teachers alike to the big questions of philosophy. This is a work well done!
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Product Description
Ever wonder what purpose philosophy serves? That question and others like it are the reason A PREFACE TO PHILOSOPHY was written. With this introduction to philosophy textbook, you'll get a headstart on philosophy class. Plus, it helps you learn to think philosophically, recognize philosophical problems, and avoid the common pitfalls involved in writing philosophical essays. Better grades and less stress in philosophy class makes A PREFACE TO PHILOSOPHY your best choice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More than meets the eye
While I agree with the other reviewer of this book in that is definately over-priced, this book is still very useful. Starting out I did NOT like this book as it was the very first book I had so far as a general introductory work in a college class ( prior to that I had Geisler's book the other reviewer mentions, it is more bang for the buck). However after taking my philosophy course I found myself going back to the book because of the nuances covered in it. I think his comments about the pitfalls beginners deeply affected by a postmodernist high school education might make was timely, and his distinctions between what are philosophical and empirical problems is helpful as well. It isn't just an intro to philosophy that goes over the various branches systematically explaining what they are and their scope of investigation but rather maybe a very broad survey of philosophy itself and the way it's careful distinctions are broadly applicable. He also has a short section on writing philosophical essays and review exercises that allow one to drill what they've been reading. While not very comprehensive, I think it's still a good read you might refer to again and again.

Too Small, Too Superficial, and Too Expensive
I was forced to buy this book to serve as a textbook for a college philosophy class. We covered Woodhouse's small booklet (barely over 100 pages of actual text) in a week. While I understand that the book is to be a preface to philosophy, I found myself covering terms and definitions that I had learned in my middle-school logic class. You definitely do not get your money out of this one. If you have a choice at buying this, consider Introduction to Philosophy by Norman Geisler and Paul Feinberg instead. Longer, more informative, and cheaper. ... Read more

Product Description
Warhol talks: about love, sex, beauty, fame, work, money, success; about New York and Americanca; and about himself. "A constant entertainment and enlightenment." -Truman Capote.
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Customer Reviews (60)

How He Thought
Great book especially I am a fan. I get to see his line of thinking. And I get his philosophy. Fun light read that is very entertaining.

:>
This is an awesome book it's funny and Andy is God or at least my God and this is my bible :D

Read It When Things Suck
I only wish I'd had a copy of this book when I was dealing with rage in the workplace.Life can be tough and complicated.Somehow I think Andy Warhol was more than visionary when he saw such levels of stress entering into the American life.The modern age is complex with more than just issues of making money and survival - we are still struggling with the right use of our technology and STUFF.Andy, had he lived longer, would have been able to provide some insights and solutions towards the stupid things people do when it comes to cell-phones, text-messaging and "tracking" emails.He would have flipped for reality TV, and by now would have a show of his own.It would have been inevitable.Such a loss!

One thing I appreciated here was his advise to never complain or create problems when in the midst of other people's dramas... Learn how to use the drama of your own silence constructively!And then?After the drama has died down -? BLAME SOMEONE.

So far his philosophy is working like a charm!I LOVE IT!

The Ragady Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to Z and Back Again
Upon receiving this book ,which I gave as a gift to my sister, I was very disappointed. The book was listed as if it were in decent shape with a few minor imperfections. On the contrary, the book was in pitiful shape. Luckily, it was not the only thing I was giving to my sister. I don't feel like I over paid by too much, but I was expecting a good deal. What I got was less than a fair deal.

If you love Andy, you'll love his philosophy
This book was very funny and a great insight on how Andy's mind works.
Some of his philosophy is so far from the norm that when you think about it it actually might work. Its a quick read, seemingly a lot of it is actual transcribed conversations, so some things get a bit monotonous like an hour long conversation with B about what she cleaned all day. (I think the idea is that B is high and rambling, but its pretty funny when you think about it). I laughed out loud through most of the book, I highly recommend it if you're an Andy fan. ... Read more

Product Description
Ashtanga Yoga: Practice and Philosophy is the first book of its kind,presenting a comprehensive guide to all eight limbs of Ashtanga VinyasaYoga. Join author Gregor Maehle, a seasoned yogi and compassionateteacher, as he guides you through the history and lineage of yoga; thefundamentals of breath, bandhas (energy locks within the body), drishti(the focal point of the gaze), and vinyasa (sequential movement); adetailed breakdown of the asanas of the Ashtanga Primary Series,following the traditional vinyasa count; a lively and authenticrendering of the complete Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, yoga's ancient sacredtext; and a glossary of yoga terminology.

In the asana section, Maehle describes each posture with clear,meticulous instructions, photographs, anatomical illustrations, andpractical tips. Information on the mythological background and yogiccontext of specific postures brings further insight to the practice. Inthe philosophy section, Maehle illuminates the Yoga Sutra using themajor ancient commentaries as well as his own insights.

This volume makes the entire path of Ashtanga Yoga accessible to modernpractitioners. Both practical guide and spiritual treatise, AshtangaYoga is an excellent introduction to the eight limbs of yoga and aninvaluable resource for any yoga teacher or practitioner. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Good Transaction
I bought this for a course. It is exactly what I needed. No problems. Thank you.

INTERESTING AND DYNAMIC
Hellow, I purchased ASHTANGA YOGA and I really loved the introduction and philosophy of the book!!! The pictures are also a great issue because they show you how the asanas really work out your body!!! This is a good detailed-book for everyone to practice yoga.

Comprehensive
Delivers as titled: a very comprehensive look at each of the movements and positions in ashtanga yoga with in-depth commentary on the yoga sutras. An outstanding book.

Superb introduction to ashtanga
There are many excellent books on Ashtanga, but this is the one I would recommend first.It is also the only book that gives the very best and clearest commentary on Patanjali's sutras -- which are the heart of ashtanga. While other books focus primarily on asanas (the sequence, sometimes with good pictures but relatively little explanation), Gregor gets into the essence of the series, with insightful instruction.I would strongly recommend this is a first and foremost reference, to be returned to again and again as your practice progresses.

Gem of a book
there are books that you read and other you treasure. This one is definitely in the latter category. Every time I read it, I get 100% of the "1% theory" aspect of my practice. This book has it all - the philosophy, the anatomy and of course, the practice. Thank you for a wonderful gift that will last a lifetime ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Bertrand Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, Jazz, Green Tea, and Choco
First, we have the mathematical text only, second, this text was written by a mortal to mortals although not for all mortals, maybe only for some hundreds,and I can begin to name them rereading first chapter the Series of Natural Numbers, pp.1-10: Euclid, Pythagoras, Peano, Frege, Russell, me (or you, or anybody else reading the same pages but existing for our design now nowhere).

In the first part of the book Veblen, Whitehead, Dedekind, and Cantor join us, further Leibnits, Weierstrass, Zermelo, Kant, Sheffer, Nicod, Occam, Laplace, and Wittgenstein in the last XVlll chapter Mathematics and Logic.Usual themes look like Definition of Number, The Definition of Order, Kinds of Relations,Rational, Real, And Complex Numbers, Limits And Continuity, Functions, Descriptions, Classes, and Index pp. 207-208.Guess how many people gave their ideas to write this book?--Not more than twenty.

One question of my child's curiosity led me some weeks through all chapters: how it could help to make intelligible my own problems of explaining of 80 (!!!) interlacing triangles inside of one circumference (people didn't see it before at all during last three millennium) of more difficult star polygons than Sri Yantra (43 triangles), and now I have a strange feeling that to my taste numbers cannot be only symbols coexisting in a text and in a mind but must also have the co-ordinates in the spaces (agreement with progression) and directions where they move or not either like matter, particles, ideas, or energy according to rhythms including or not category of time. The true god is geometry.

For those who have read this note to the end and think it was pure fun I have to say jazz, Chinese green tea, and chocolate Nestle helped me a lot:)

The highest point of mathematical philosophy is a total lacking of numbers but a total sense of humour instead.Maybe, a bit of Zen too ... a lot of

Russell does an excellent job in describing the foundations of mathematics for the non-mathematician
Two of the very first courses I took in graduate school were in the foundations of mathematics, a decision that I have repeatedly praised myself for since. By learning the basic structure of mathematics, it was much easier to understand what came later. In this book, Bertrand Russell, one of the giants of mathematical philosophy, writes about the subject for a general audience.
Russell, known in mathematical circles more for his giant work "Principia Mathematica" co-authored by Alfred North Whitehead, does an excellent job in describing the foundations of mathematics for the non-mathematician. It is a difficult task, as it is hard to describe mathematics without using mathematics. While there are some sections where Russell has no choice but to mention some higher-level mathematics, he does so only when necessary and explains it well. Most people with at least some exposure to mathematics will be able to understand it. There are no proofs in the book.
As a primer on many of the basic ideas of mathematics, this book is one of the best. Russell was also a great expository writer and he demonstrates that trait here.

A Joyful, Friendly Introduction to Bertrand Russell
Okay, I have to be honest- I was a little intrepid picking up this book, and it had nothing to do with Russell's math.I had this really dogmatic atheist friend who used to endlessly quote "Why I am not a Christian," and it put me off of Bertrand Russell.

This book is a joy.It's easy to read, interesting to think about, and inexpensive.Three virtues of math books that are hard to find in combination!

A Philosophy Reading Classic
A great book by a great philosopher. Of course, much of the material was for its time advanced and revolutionary now it is more of a classic introductory text given a basic preparation in critical reading and basic mathematics to sufficiently appreciate the nuance of his thought.

Good introduction To Mathematical Logic
Bertand Russell's "Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy" provides the reader with a great understanding of mathematical philosophy in a very simple and straightforward manner. Though this is an introductory work it may not be casual reading to all who endeavor to read it. Beginning with definition of numbers and sets it expands to provide definitions of simple and complex and builds to provide a good understanding of the logic behind mathematics.While much of what is spoken about may seem very elementary the logic behind certainly is not. While the book is not nearly as expansive ad "Principia Mathematica" it is a good distillation of the bigger work and provides a great introduction to anyone wishing to explore that work. I recommend this book to anyone interested in formal logic and believe that it should be in the required reading for any formal logic introductory class.Further anyone interested in reading Goedel's work's which expand on Russell's work needs at least to read this work prior to Goedel.I find this book to be very succinct and readable and ultimately very worthy of the effort it takes to read.

-- Ted Murena
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