Preface to Philosophy

By Mark B. Woodhouse

Book Overview

Widely used by instructors as an introductory supplement, this small book has helped thousands of students learn to think philosophically, recognize philosophical problems, and avoid the common pitfalls involved in writing critical philosophical essays. This book answers the four most important questions a beginning student needs to have answered: 1. What is a philosophical problem? 2. Why bother doing philosophy? 3. How do I go about doing philosophy? 4. Am I going to get anywhere for my efforts? It is compatible with virtually any teaching approach to the introduction of philosophy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0534205569
• ISBN13: 9780534205560
• Release Date: June 1993
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 6.0" x 0.5"

Customer Reviews

More than meets the eye

While I agree with the other reviewer of this book in that is definately over-priced, this book is still very useful. Starting out I did NOT like this book as it was the very first book I had so far as a general introductory work in a college class ( prior to that I had Geisler's book the other reviewer mentions, it is more bang for the buck). However after taking my philosophy course I found myself going back to the book because of the nuances covered in it. I think his comments about the pitfalls beginners deeply affected by a postmodernist high school education might make was timely, and his distinctions between what are philosophical and empirical problems is helpful as well. It isn't just an intro to philosophy that goes over the various branches systematically explaining what they are and their scope of investigation but rather maybe a very broad survey of philosophy itself and the way it's careful distinctions are broadly applicable. He also has a short section on writing philosophical essays and review exercises that allow one to drill what they've been reading. While not very comprehensive, I think it's still a good read you might refer to again and again.