Product Description

This brisk and invigorating tour through the great books of western philosophy explores some of our greatest thinkers from Plato and Aristotle to Kant and Rawl. This third edition includes three new chapters, as well as revised further reading.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6031 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Review
'The challenge is to convey to the modern reader the perennial freshness of idea which might otherwise be clouded by historical scholarship. Nigel Warburton rises to the challenge with admirable skill.' – The Times

From the Back Cover

In his exemplary clear style, Warburton introduces and assesses twenty-seven philosophical classics from Plato’s Republic to Rawls’ A Theory of Justice. For the third edition there is  new text design and revised further reading make this the ideal book for all students, while three new chapters on Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy and Sartre’s Existentialism and Humanism mean that all the A Level set texts are covered.

This brisk and invigorating tour through the great books of western philosophy explores the works of Plato, Aristotle, Boethius, Machiavelli, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Schopenhauer, Mill, Kierkegaard, Marx and Engels, Nietzsche, Russell, Ayer, Sartre, Wittgenstein, and Rawls.

Offering twenty-seven guidebooks for the price of one, this is the most comprehensive introduction to philosophers and their texts currently available.

Customer Reviews

The best accompaniment to the greatest philosophical works
As an undergradute philosophy student I have to confess that this book has been my bible for the last two years. It covers nealy all of the most important philosophical works fom Plato through to Ayer. It gives a detailed breakdown of the text and then gives general objections to the theories made. Whether like me you are studying philsophy, or are just interested in the subject, this is a fantastic explanation of the greatest ideas ever expressed.

what a cool book!
Warburton gives simple and accessible introduction to his "top 20" philosophy classics. The chapters tell you what you need to know about the books and even motivate you to actually READ some of the original works. Bibliographies in each chapter give accessible works to look at next. A well done job.

Great Starting Point for the Philosophically Intersted
This is a really good introduction to Philosophy for the lay person (like me) : it devotes a chapter (10 or so pages) to some of the most important Philosophical works throughout history : from Plato to Rawls. It's a great book to appreciate the ideas of the great thinkers, such that you can then dive off into the detail of those that interest you.

It is written in plain language, clearly articulated and with a glossary/summary at the end of each chapter. It assumes no prior Philosphical knowledge and is very readable : it took me only 2 days to read it cover to cover. . Great book!