Product Description

Philosophy is all about being, knowing, and acting. It poses daring questions such as what exists, what counts as knowledge, and how do we know things? And, as life becomes more and more complicated, people turn to philosophy to help themselves better understand the world around them-politics, religion, family, the environment, and more. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy, Second Edition will continue the first edition's success in exposing beginners to the world of philosophy, its ideas, and its philosophers. It will contain expanded content on existing ideas and philosophers covered in the first edition, but it will also introduce new philosophers whose ideas were not included in the first edition, but whose contributions to the world of philosophy are perhaps now less obscure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #593738 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From the Back Cover

You're no idiot, of course. You think about your home, your family, and how to get to the office on time. But when it comes to understanding what life is all about, you don't know your Plato from your Kierkegaard. Don't stop seeking the answers! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy shows you how the ideas of the world's great thinkers can help you make sense of your own reality as we head toward the twenty-first century. In this Complete Idiot's Guide, you get:

About the Author

Jay Stevenson, Ph.D. teaches writing, English Literature, and cultural studies at Rutgers University and is the author of five titles in The Complete Idiot's Guide® series.

Customer Reviews

Good outline of philosophy
I was already reading philosophy before buying this book and it was what I hoped it to be: an outline that helped me deciding where to go from there. The book is brief compared to the vast territory it covers and you shouldn't use it to draw any conclusions towards philosophy. It places names and styles in context. As such it's great and I use it regularly as a large scale roadmap. Once again: don't draw any conclusion of the 'such-and-such philosophy is not for me'-type.

Good only for introduction
This book is good only if you want a quick glimpse of what philosophy is. A start, and that is about all you will get from the book. And regarding some of the chapters about Chinese philosophy, you probably would learn better with other books.

Very general, needs to focus less on "new-age".
This book was my introduction to philosophy. And, considering that I still read philosophy constantly, it must have done something right. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy does a good job of explaining multiple western and eastern philosophies, and is great for the beginner. However, the new-age philosophies detailed in the end chapters are too cultish for the likes of anyone seriously interested in the science.