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A Little History of Philosophy, by Nigel Warburton
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Nigel Warburton guides the reader on a chronological tour of the major ideas in the history of philosophy.
- Sales Rank: #57099 in Books
- Brand: Warburton, Nigel
- Published on: 2012-10-30
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x 5.50" w x 1.00" l, .75 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 272 pages
Review
“This book is a little classic.”—Merryn Williams, Oxford Times (Merryn Williams Oxford Times)
“A charming read.”—Christian Century (Christian Century)
“This brisk primer is, for the neophyte, a good place to start immersing oneself in the history of Western thought.”—Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)
“This book is a little classic, invaluable for the man or woman in the street who would like to know more about philosophy. . . . [It] suggests that philosophy is ‘not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose’, but a thoroughly enjoyable way to stretch your mind.”—Merryn Williams, Oxford Times (Merryn Williams Oxford Times 2011-10-06)
'A primer in human existence: philosophy has rarely seemed so lucid, so important, so worth doing and so easy to enter into.�It's refreshing to see the subject presented in terms of the history of ideas rather than of timeless concepts.�A wonderful introduction for anyone who's ever felt curious about almost anything.' - Sarah Bakewell, author of How To Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (Sarah Bakewell)
‘A lively and eye-catching book, written in an easy style which should have splendid appeal for a young audience.’ - Peter Cave, author of Can a Robot be Human?: 33 Perplexing Philosophy Puzzles (Peter Cave)
“…a tour of the major ideas and thinkers in the history of philosophy, nicely presented in 40 brief chapters.”—The Bookseller (The Bookseller 2011-06-10)
“Warburton packs a heck of a lot in to what is something of a Goldilocks volume: neither too much nor too little, the exegesis neither too thing or too thick and lumpy, his Little History can be consumed as a nourishing treat in its own right or provide the perfect fuel to kick-start anyone’s journey into philosophy.’’—Julian Baggini, The Observer (Julian Baggini The Observer 2011-09-04)
“The book has a certain quality that comes from accepting a challenge under severe conditions, then taking it on without making a big deal of the whole thing. And the word for that quality is grace.”—Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed (Scott McLemee Inside Higher Ed)
Read Nigel Warburton's post on how E.H. Gombrich inspired A Little History of Philosophy on the Yale Press Log (http://yalepress.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/nigel-warburton-on-how-e-h-gombrich-in)
Read an interview with Nigel Warburton on the Yale Press Log. (http://yalepress.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/nigel-warburton-on-a-little-history-of)
“With this sweeping and enjoyable work the author affirms that deliberating on reality and questioning how our lives are best lived is still worth the trouble.”—PopMatters (PopMatters)
“The magic of Nigel Warburton’s book is its disarming accessibility. It closely follows the template of ‘A Little History Of The World’ – Ernst Gombrich’s 1935 introductory text for children, recently translated by Yale – and Warburton is the ideal shout for a writer to match Gombrich’s terse charm and easy authority. Anyone who’s enjoyed Warburton’s brilliant podcast series, ‘Philosophy Bites’, where he and fellow demystifier David Edmonds half-nelson academics into spelling out their their theories, will know he has a special gift for defusing complexity.”—Chris Brown, Time Out (Chris Brown Time Out 2011-11-17)
“If you are looking for a book about philosophy, Nigel Warburton’s A Little History of Philosophy is the place to begin…Accessible, funny and informative.”—Sacramento News and Review (Sacramento News and Review)
“Nigel Warburton takes the reader on a journey through the history of Western philosophy, in a highly accessible way….Illuminating, informative and most of all enjoyable.”—Mary Lussiana, Country & Town House (Books of the Year) (Mary Lussiana Country & Town House (Books of the Year) 2012-01-01)
“This fascinating book makes a seemingly impenetrable subject accessible….From the execution of Socrates to today’s animal rights movement, he examines some of the most compelling ideas put forward by some of the brilliant minds of humanity has known.”—Gavin Engelbrecht, Northern Echo (Christmas Books) (Gavin Engelbrecht Northern Echo (Christmas Books) 2011-11-28)
“Survey the entire history of (western) philosophy through short intellectual biographies of 40 philosophers from Socrates to Peter Singer, in as broadly approachable a style as EH Gombrich’s A Little History of the World. A tall order; that Warburton (of the excellent podcast Philosophy Bites) has succeeded so well is a triumph.”—Steven Poole, The Guardian (Steven Poole The Guardian 2011-11-12)
"This is a thought-provoking and engaging introduction to philosophy, sweeping through over 2000 years of Western philosophical ideas… The core ideas are clearly described with engaging anecdotal elaborations, both visual and written, which reveal to the reader the real people behind the concepts."—Good Book Guide (Good Book Guide 2012-11-01)
"Forty short chapters offer an informative, clear guide to forty major Western philosophers. Warburton’s casual, conversational style belies the erudition that has gone into his book." —Katie Owen, The Sunday Telegraph (Katie Owen The Sunday Telegraph 2012-12-02)
From the Author
Why did you write this book?
Philosophy is one of the most stimulating and important subjects there is. We all philosophize some of the time when we think about how we should live, whether or not God exists, or how society should be organized. These questions have vexed the greatest minds for thousands of years. Yet some people are still daunted by philosophy. They think it's an impenetrable and obscure subject that has no relevance for them. I wanted to show this isn't true, that it's possible to write an accessible and enjoyable book without betraying the spirit of the great thinkers of the past or making them obscure or irrelevant. I decided to focus on the Western tradition in philosophy and on one or two key ideas from each philosopher discussed rather than attempt an encyclopedic overview.
How is making philosophy accessible to all a challenge?
Part of the challenge of writing a book like this was to keep the language straightforward. Many philosophers have introduced complex technical terms that make their writing hard to follow. It's easy to fall into the habit of mirroring them. Writing in a way that doesn't presuppose knowledge is an excellent discipline, though, as there's no place to hide.
Which philosophers do you personally find most engaging?
Socrates, the great fifth-century Athenian philosopher who would cross-question passersby in the marketplace and reveal how little they really knew, is one of my personal favourites. His unwillingness to accept assumptions, and his passion for discovering the truth or, failing that, how little he knew, provide a model for all philosophers. Although he wasn't the first philosopher, he was the first great philosopher. He of all the philosophers in the book is the one I'd most like to have met. My second choice would be the eighteenth-century philosopher David Hume, a remarkable thinker who was also a superb writer.
What are the major themes of your book?
A Little History of Philosophy focuses on the major themes of philosophy: appearance and reality, the nature of the self, and questions about God's existence and about how we should live, both individually and as members of society. Throughout philosophy's history these have been the perennial themes. Each era gives them a new twist, but they aren't going to go away.
About the Author
Nigel Warburton is senior lecturer in philosophy, The Open University. He is the author of several popular introductions to philosophy and is the interviewer on the Philosophy Bites podcast. He lives in Oxford, UK.
Most helpful customer reviews
61 of 72 people found the following review helpful.
For neophytes only
By dcreader
Reading Nigel Warburton's A Little History of Philosophy makes me appreciate even more (if that is possible) EH Gombrich's A Little History of the World. In about 300 pages, Gombrich relayed just about every event of significance in world history in an erudite, extraordinarily humane way. His book has been in print for so long and in so many languages, it has inspired an attempt to do the same for philosophy. Unfortunately, Warburton's efforts fall short in many respects, despite providing a delightful entre for true neophytes.
A Little History of Philosophy tries to accomplish its task by breaking the development of philosophy up into 40 chapters, each focused on one or two philosophers. Each contains some brief biographical material and a discussion of one or two ideas associated with him or her. After reading A Little History, a reader will know the "big names" and become familiar with some of the more interesting questions and ideas raised over the millennia since Socrates hectored his fellow Athenians about what they really understood and believed. Warburton is careful to illustrate philosophical concepts in a manner that assumes no prior knowledge of philosophy.
More specifically, he covers both the famous (e.g. Plato, Aristotle, Kant, etc.) and some lesser known figures to the general public (Spinoza, Pierce, Foot, etc.), and includes even the most modern thinkers such as Rawls and Singer. His concept of "philosophy" is broad enough to cover ethics, political philosophy, economic philosophy, theology, ontology, and even some philosophy of science. He generally tries to pair different approaches or variations (e.g., Bentham and Mill on utilitarianism). A true beginner will certainly finish the book knowing a good deal more than she did when she started, is unlikely to be confused, and will likely be inspired to take a "deeper dive" into those topics or philosophers she found most engaging. This is the good news. Those who are even a little better versed in philosophy, however, will find less of interest.
Even assuming the book is geared towards beginners, though, Warburton could have done even better in certain respects. He fails to introduce readers to the basic vocabulary of philosophy in many cases. A glossary at the end would be helpful. Opportunities to compare one philosopher's views on a particular subject with another are sometimes missed. And, in some cases, Warburton chooses a particularly odd concept to discuss in a chapter. For example, a reader will not learn anything about John Locke's Second Treastise of Government and Locke's views on the contractual nature of government and the consent of the governed. Curiously, Warburton chooses to focus on Locke's views on memory and humanity. The political philosophy of Rousseau is well presented, however, and one wishes Warburton had paired him with Edmund Burke in a chapter that covered both views on 18th century political developments. He omits Peter Singer's most controversial thesis altogether (that perhaps we should permit the killing of severely disabled newborns) despite the point of his final chapter being that philosophy is still a vital force in forcing us to rethink the comfortably familiar.
In sum, A Little History is best left to those looking for a gentle introduction to philosophy in general, with readers looking for depth in any particular subject better off elsewhere.
41 of 48 people found the following review helpful.
Nice, Brief, Well-written
By Hugh Sansom
This book is clearly intended to trade on the popularity of E.H. Gombrich's "A Little History of the World".
Warburton is impressively thorough for such a short book. One might gripe that he really only covers western philosophy or that he neglects the role of language, logic, and philosophy of mathematics in 20th century anglophone philosophy, but those are very minor points. This is not intended to be a deep, philosophical treatise. It's a survey for the curious, and it does _really_ well for that.
One reviewer offers a blinkered hissy fit over Warburton's coverage of arguments for the "existence of god" and Bertrand Russell. That thread of thought is _minimal_ in western philosophy, of interest largely to religious fanatics who can't bear the idea that anyone doesn't take their dogma as an article of faith. Take it how you like, that reviewer's points about the book utterly miss the point.
If you're curious about philosophy and particularly if you know a young person who might get a kick out of philosophical thinking, this is a fine book.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Brief but sweet
By Jesse
Considering this book is not intended to be a long in depth piece of literature, neither will my review. This book may be the greatest source of elementary knowledge as it relates to philosophy. At just over 240 pages of text, this book paints a brilliant picture of what philosophy was, is, and may become. With 40 chapters, making each about 6 pages in length, philosophy is briefly summarized through many different philosophers. Every chapter is clearly tied to the next, with mostly fluent transitions. My biggest gripe is that the book was simply to shallow for me personally, however the adequate references to specific works has allowed me to learn more at my own wish.
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