Product Description

Now in its second edition, this ever-engaging, humorous and extremely popular book challenges readers to think philosophically about every day dilemmas. This fully updated new edition includes brand new problems, such as 'A Nasty Transplant' and the 'Three Embryos', from the field of medical ethics, and 'Deep Thought Speaks', which tackles issues in Artificial Intelligence. These new conundrums accompany old favourites, such as the 'Hanging Judge', 'The Unexpected exam', 'The Sentence' paradox and 'Descartes' big problem', all explained and explored in Martin Cohen's clear, witty and individual style. 101 Philosophy Problems will stimulate hours of lively philosophical debate.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #209387 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

The Guardian, 5.11.1999
Are all moral claims synthetic? Or analytic? Or a priori? Or a posteriori? Or both? Or neither? What about tables? Can you see one? Ask yourself: does it exist? Too easy? Go out of the room and ask yourself again. The next sentence is true. The previous sentence is false. Obey the brain warning at the beginning and don't read all 101 problems at once. On free will: You don't always act yourself if you're suffering from a paranoid personality disorder.

Campus (Germany) July 2001
Cohen presents philosophical mysteries from antiquity to today without technical terms or incomprehensible jargon

Christian Aid
always thought-provoking, funny and iconoclastic about the whole business of doing philosophy... the most perfect toilet reading I know

Customer Reviews

Entertaining
A very interesting and challenging book covering a whole spectrum of problems. Some of the problems require some quite lateral thinking whereas others are quite focused.

The discussion section of the book provides food for thought. One improvement would be to have the discussion after each problem so you don't have to keep flicking back and forth. That aside, an entertaining read.

Interesting
I thought that this book provided a lot of food for thought, but flicking about from page to page to read each problem and its associated discussion became rather annoying after a while. I learned a surprising amount from the book, but I really don't feel that it changed my way of thinking, or anything as exciting as that!

To summarise: Interesting, and well worth reading, but hardly life-changing.

masterpiece of eccentric genius
I have read both the English edition and now have the Chinese edition too. I quite agree with what it says about the book, viz: this is a masterpiece of eccentric genius with a world-sweeping humorous philosophy. After all, does philosophy have to be cut and dried and boring? Dr Martin Cohen, would never agree even if he has to be bitten to death twice, as the Chinese proverb has it. Because what he hates most, are those boring philosophic theories and the boring philosophers. In the book, he even suggests some philosophers are like vampires, shuddering and covering their eyes in fear and loathing at the clarity of a well-constructed sentence.

The humorous Dr Martin Cohen is in fact the editor of the Philosopher, the highly respected English Journal, founded in 1923, for which the famous John Dewey, Bertrand Russell and so on used to write, as well as the frequent stirrer of waves and blower of wind in today's British philosophical world.

In his book, Dr Cohen has collected 101 interesting Philosophy Problems. Together with his humorous and sharp commentary, these provide readers with a unique experience and in-depth understanding that philosophy is actually a game which everyone is able to play.

The readers, as if charmed by Martin's spell, will follow his instructions and dance with him. The book has been translated into many other languages. Dr Martin Cohen says, "if the boring philosophers find this all too easy, let them answer some of the questions!"