Philosophy: Basic Readings

by Nigel Warburton

Book Overview

Nigel Warburton brings philosophy to life with an imaginative selection of philosophical writings on key topics. Philosophy: Basic Readings is the ideal introduction to some of the most accessible and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415187206
• ISBN13: 9780415187206
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

excellent introduction to why philosophy matters

I'm using this book for a "Philosophical Problems" type course at the introductory undergraduate level, and it works very well. I do think that some of the choices of essays could have been better (Sartre's piece from No Exit is good, but doesn't really address explicitly the philosophical issues, and Borges' story about Cervantes is just downright bizarre). Still, most of the essays are accessible to the student or reader without philosophical background, are engaging, and more importantly show why philosophy matters to our lives. One simply has to be brain dead not to care about questions surrounding the existence of god, morality, justice, democracy, aesthetics, and so on. The Kindle version is a bit unwieldy if you take a lot of notes and highlight many passages, the page turning becomes *very* slow, though I'm sure this is a software/hardware issue that will be fixed in the future as more people use the device for teaching. I think the author is about to put out a new edition of the book soon, and I'm looking forward to compare it with the current one in terms of choices and topics.

WONDERFUL AND USABLE SELECTION

A truly wonderful selection of readings about philosophy and philosophy's central issues by professor Nigel Warburton. Very highly recommended for those that want to enhance their knowledge and have a better understanding of the basic topics that torture human mind, without having to yawn and dwell with dull or inextricable texts, as it happens with other anthologies, of a more complex and ambitious structure (which usually remain unread). This compilation indeed lives up to the purpose that the author set up to accomplish, as it is set forth in the Preface: "My aim has been to select writing that will repay study, and which is, above all interesting. Part of the point of this anthology is to demonstrate philosophy in action.."The book is divided in eight parts, if you count the Introduction about the topic "What is Philosophy ?", as one. Here, scope, method and value of P. are presented through writings by Warnock, Mellor,Ayer and the Earl Russell. Then the subject of God, its existence and the discussion about the proofs of God is left to the writings of Pascal, Gardner, Mackie, Swinburne, Hume and Dawkins. Another section deals with ethics and morals, titled "Wright and Wrong". Other sections dwell with the subjects of Politics, The External World, Science, the Mind and, finally, Art. Each section has a brief and balanced introduction by the author. Here, again, he accomplishes the task of setting the basic mainframe to aid the reader, and refrains from providing a resume that, in other anthologies, enables the reader to dispense with the reading of the material itself.....This selection can be read with relative ease and constitutes a fresh and modern approach to the divulgation of philosophy. Kudos to professor Warburton ! As reviewed by Luciano Lupini.

Good Primer

Philosophy is an exhilarating subject to study as it challenges previously unquestioned beliefs, develops transferable thinking skills, and gives students a chance to interact with the ideas of some of the greatest thinkers known to humanity. One reason for it being such a stimulating subject is that in order to study it you have to enter into the debate rather than observe it from the sidelines.This anthology of basic philosophical readings is ideal for anyone coming to philosophy for the first time as it demonstrates philosophy in action. Nigel Warburton brings philosophy to life with an imaginative selection of 44 philosophical writings on key topics by such renown philosophers as A.J. Ayer, Bertrand Russell, Blaise Pascal, David Hume, Richard Dawkins, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, George Berkeley, Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein. These carefully chosen readings are easy to understand, are accessible and will give the reader a thorough understanding of philosophy. The aim has not been comprehensive coverage of all the central topics in philosophy, but rather interesting coverage of a selection of topics. Each chapter considers a key area of philosophy grouped under the following themes: * What is philosophy? * God * Right and wrong * Politics * The external world * Science * Mind * Art Each theme in this book complements the sections in the companion volume Philosophy: The Basics (3rd edition 1999) by the same author.