Product Description

Philosophy: The Basics is the book for anyone coming to philosophy for the first time. Nigel Warburton's best selling book gently eases the reader into the world of philosophy. Each chapter considers a key area of philosophy, explaining and exploring the basic ideas and themes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #102755 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 178 pages

Synopsis
This text is aimed at anyone coming to philosophy for the first time, gently easing the reader into the world of philosophy. Each chapter considers a key area of the subject, explaining and exploring the basic ideas and themes. The third edition updates and expands the main text. It is being published to coincide with the publication of "Philosophy: Basic Readings", a companion guide of key philosophical readings. These two books together seek to make an ideal and straightforward introduction to philosophy.

Customer Reviews

Superb!
Like 'Philosophy - the classics', this is an excellent book, reference and general reader. It gives a useful reading list at the end of each chapter.

The Basics takes a topic based approach, including Philosophy of : Science, Mind, Religion, the external world etc. and starts off by expounding the theory (say behaviourism) and then the arguments against it.

Warburton writes really clearly and this book is a useful resource for student and anyone interested in Philosophy.

Every philosopher at every level should own this book
I did a philosophy degree and I remember getting a bit dismayed by some of the books I had to read. Then I stumbled across this. In his introduction he writes that philosophy is often seen as harder than it actually is and this is because many philosophers aren't good writers.

This is 100% true and restored my faith in philosophy. Warburton is an extremely clear writer and covers the essential points is a lucid manner. If it's within the scope of this book then any essay you have to write, or topic you are interested in should begin with this book. Of course you will need others but this is a great starting point.

See also his 'philosophy: a-z' You might also find Bryan Magee's books useful and Bertrand Russell is a bit of a genius too.

EXCELLENT BOOK FOR REVISION
I have just completed an ethics and philosophy A Level for which I used this book. The book itself is clear and concise, making it excellent revision material. It covers all of the standard need to know topics and does so in an intelligent, factual manner! Definitly use this for A Level standards although I would not reccomend using it as a basis for research as it simply isn't detailed enough.