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erin_boyington's review against another edition
3.0
A brief, readable introduction to the thinkers and ideas that have shaped the world.
The profiles are organized by date, bookended by brief intros to each historical era; each person gets 1-3 pages describing major ideas and an abbreviated biography. There are also sidebars with quotations, charts outlining a thinker's logic, "see also" page references to related thinkers in the book, and boxes that put each person into his or her contextual background (telling us who influenced whom).
This book provides a quick and dirty overview of philosophy for those who want nodding acquaintance with the big names and ideas, or those who want to brush up. The ideas are highly simplified but clear enough to be understood, and there are lists of key works for those who want to delve deeper. I like how the book made connections between related thinkers, showing the way knowledge is built and refined by successive generations. The usual suspects from Western philosophy are most represented, but thinkers from all over the world, from various religious and philosophical traditions, are also included.
Provocative statements like "Philosophy and religion are not incompatible", "Imagination decides everything", "Mind has no gender", and "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom" grabbed my curiosity and led me to read at random. You could definitely absorb a few pages and sit wondering for a long time - which is exactly what an introduction to philosophy should help you do.
For more armchair philosophizing, you could try out some thought experiments from The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten by Julian Baggani or read A Little History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton for a different overview of a fascinating subject.
The profiles are organized by date, bookended by brief intros to each historical era; each person gets 1-3 pages describing major ideas and an abbreviated biography. There are also sidebars with quotations, charts outlining a thinker's logic, "see also" page references to related thinkers in the book, and boxes that put each person into his or her contextual background (telling us who influenced whom).
This book provides a quick and dirty overview of philosophy for those who want nodding acquaintance with the big names and ideas, or those who want to brush up. The ideas are highly simplified but clear enough to be understood, and there are lists of key works for those who want to delve deeper. I like how the book made connections between related thinkers, showing the way knowledge is built and refined by successive generations. The usual suspects from Western philosophy are most represented, but thinkers from all over the world, from various religious and philosophical traditions, are also included.
Provocative statements like "Philosophy and religion are not incompatible", "Imagination decides everything", "Mind has no gender", and "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom" grabbed my curiosity and led me to read at random. You could definitely absorb a few pages and sit wondering for a long time - which is exactly what an introduction to philosophy should help you do.
For more armchair philosophizing, you could try out some thought experiments from The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten by Julian Baggani or read A Little History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton for a different overview of a fascinating subject.
bluebirdrose's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
jedi_indyjones's review against another edition
5.0
I love DK books, but I was floored by the Big Ideas Simply Explained series. The Philosophy Book was the first one I wanted to get through. I am extremely interested in philosophy and this book was great introduction to many great philosophers since the beginning of time. There are ideas we hold on to without any clue where they originated from. This book put many books from great thinkers on my reading list. There are endless rabbit holes to go down and this book is a great guide. I look forward to the many different subject in this series. I have many on my list from DK. They are the ultimate reference books!
andreaborrallo's review against another edition
4.0
muy buena manera de tomar un primer contacto con este mundo, aunque ni mucho menos suficiente
abetterbradley's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. The book breaks down all of the major and minor philosophic works into easy to understand language.
oddandbookish's review against another edition
5.0
I give this book 4.5 stars which rounds up to 5.
This book gives a great overview of philosophy. I was a philosophy major in college and this book covers many of the ideas I learned at school. However, my only grievance is that it leaves some ideas out like Kantian ethics. But other than that I highly recommend this to people who like philosophy or want to learn more about it.
This book gives a great overview of philosophy. I was a philosophy major in college and this book covers many of the ideas I learned at school. However, my only grievance is that it leaves some ideas out like Kantian ethics. But other than that I highly recommend this to people who like philosophy or want to learn more about it.