Donald PalmerRezensionen

An excellent (to my uneducated mind) summary of a bunch of important philosophers and their relation to "the tradition" and their own movements. Does a great job of making some of their major ideas relatively understandable. The drawings are pretty goofy but sometimes do actually help to illuminate the text. Enjoyed it a bunch.

2 criticisms:
- It mentions Freud quite a few times but never really describes anything about him
- Doesn't challenge Western orthodoxy - treats the Dark Ages as, well, "dark" when this isn't true and mostly ignores Muslim works, giving them short shrift even when they're essential to what others wrote

A useful overview of some of the major Western philosophical movements. It’s not a complete look, but it is a great place to get a sense of where to go next and who you’ll need to look up and read more of.

Humor and drawings make this survey of Western philosophy less of a slog than it would otherwise be. The book is intended as a college textbook. As a result, it covers a lot of material, but not very deeply.

2/27/22

2/27/22

12/13/21

Me reading books about existentialism:



Me reading books by existentialists:

Since I did not yet understand them as moments in human thought, this book was a nice little romp through the historical thought of structuralism and poststructuralism. I especially liked the sections on Saussure and the one on Foucault. The least comprehensible section was on Lacan, but to be fair, Lacan was also the one I was least prepared to understand when I started reading the book. The art is inconsistent and poorly done yet somehow also charming.

Sartre is surely the most significant philosopher of the twentieth century but, he can seem impenetrable to the uninitiated. This book, at a mere 150 pages, takes the absolute beginner and opens up the complex world of the man and his writing.

It is fine to read the phrase, 'Existence precedes essence', but without some background into Sartre's thinking, it has no significance. Within these pages, you will find an understanding of Existentialism, a brief run through all Sartre's major works and the influences and historical events of the time.

I am now ready to tackle, 'Being and Nothingness', with a real prospect of appreciating the work; even if I don't necessarily agree with it.

It seems like Plato and Aristotle said it all, and since then philosophers just alternated between the two. Not exactly, but that's about right. Plato was the more ethereal one, and Aristotle the more practical. This covers a couple dozen philosophers, from 6th c. B.C Thales (of earth, air, fire, and water, water is the most basic) of Greek Anatolia, to Wittgenstein (language allows philosophy to become absurd) and the modern day.

I never realized that Philosophy was so closely related to Mathematics, at least in the early years. That makes it difficult for me to digest a lot of it. The idea of philosophy as an exercise in pure logic dulls its appeal for me. I always thought of philosophy as a more romantic endeavor.

Ooit gekocht in een tweedehandswinkel - biedt een heel licht overzicht van de belangrijkste evoluties in de filosofie, en heeft al vaak dienst gedaan als geheugensteun. Wel niet aan te raden voor details.

This is a really good resource: the illustrations are more helpful that I thought they'd be, and I've been won over by the idea of producing illustrated introductory texts to difficult-to-understand "Theory" movements. Sometimes you really need things to be diagrammed, and this book can help those of us whose learning styles are a combination of the different "Learning Styles" that have been posited as normal by the education system (with good reason).½

Philosophy - made lighter, made mainly comprehensible - though there remain a few figures in philosophical narrative, even made lighter, who achieve only the status of a decaf skinny latte: why bother? But Palmer overcomes the incomprehensibility of most Western philosophers (well maybe not Heidegger) and makes the journey worthwhile. In 75% of cases he even whets the appetite for more - all with humour and delightful drawings. That and a zany font. This is a wonderful book, and while some philosophy undergrads might turn up their noses at its deceptive simplicity, they should not do so: it makes philosophy an enjoyable discourse.

One of the best "Introductions", with accessible but challenging summaries of the people and the conventional themes taught in Western Philosophy classes. The themes are kept alive throughout the calligraphic text with cartoons, explicit connections to the arts and sciences, and by the personal eccentric and Jamesian positions of the author. With Glossary and Index.

Chapter 1 - PHILOSOPHY. Origins and contemporary branches. Socrates.

Chapter 2 - EPISTEMOLOGY. The difference between opinion and knowledge. Rationalism, Plato and Descartes.

Chapter 3 EMPIRICISM. [WUCUG what you see you get]. John Locke, Berkeley, phenomenalism. Hume - without god.

Chapter 4 - ONTOLOGY. Materialism, Behaviorism (Skinner vs Chomsky), Pluralism (the alternative to dualism and materialistic monism). Aristotle -- "substances", Wittgenstein.

Chapter 5 - RELIGION. Theism - proof from ontology, cosmology. Teleology (design) - Summa Theologica (Aquinas).

Criticism: Hume (Causality 193). Darwin - the purposed relation between the world and a designer fails empirically. Feuerbach (b. 1804) - religion is the result of confusion and prevents solutions to serious problems. Marx - "opiate" addresses real pain. Marcuse - the transfiguring content of religion cannot be liberated by surrender to science.[211] Freud - the mind preserves its earlier stages, onto- and phylogenetically.[212] [Making "scientific religious art"! 215]. Pragmatism ["ugly enough to be safe from kidnappers"] William James (b. 1842) -- passional argument -- only meaningful sentences can be true.

Existentialsm - Kierkegaard - interpretation of Abraham's acceptance of the murder assignment, in which the individual is responsible, is the beginning.[230]

Chapter 6 - Freedom. Determinism - Skinner, Freud. Libertarianism. Heisenberg indeterminism. Sartre (b.1905) "facticity". Dostoyevsky's Notes from Under the Floorboards" -- perverse freedom [270], resentment against prudence and reason, an Arab's "whim".

Chapter 7 - Ethics. Justice/ Morality, City / Soul. Greeks, Utilitarians, Kant - duty-oriented morality.

Chapter 8 - Morality. Naturalism, Positivism, Relativism.

Chapter 9 - Political Philosophy: the legitimacy of Government. Plato, Hobbes (and Freud) the selfish atom, Locke (and Marx) cooperative nature, Rousseau, Mill. Why do we put up with "rules" enforced by a threat of force? Colin Turnbull's work with the Ik, and the BaMbuti. [ 403].

Chapter 10 - Justice: The key concept of social philosophy. Fairness in the distribution of goods and services, allocating resources. (1) statist communism, (2) minimal-state anarchism, (3) liberalism.

(1) Statist : Hegel (b. 1770) - idealist organicism. Marx (b. 1818) - materialist evolutionary.

(2) Non-statist: Nozick "historical patterns" and agencies in anarchy [421]. Holdings have absolute rights - upon just acquisition, then to transfer, rectify, defend, punish. Critics (MacIntryre, Brown) note that in the absence of a just acquisition of anything, the theory is utopian and irrelevant to any actual choices.

(3) The Liberal State. John Rawls "A Theory of Justice" (1971, 1999). A social contract guides conduct, and it is negotiated behind a "veil of ignorance". State regulations to foster low inflation and high employment, protecting the free market, capital, and resources. The right to fair treatment is as basic as Nozick's right to property.

Chapter 11 - Art. Plato and Freud, Aristotle. Marx, Marcuse, Existentialism, Wittgenstein "open concepts". Nietzsche (redeeming), Rilke -- "du musst dein Leben andern!".½

If I were going to teach an introduction to philosophy, this would be the text I'd use. It's exceedingly accessible and designed in a fashion that would interest even many who were required to take a class they did not want. Don't be fooled by the goofy illustrations and the cartoonish font; the content here is much more serious and the scope broader than would first appear. Key terms are not avoided, but there is no stuffy tone and complex sentence structure needed more for academic prestige than for explanation. This is a textbook with fairly good introductions to various concepts and figures, but it contains no excerpts. For this, there are many ways to get at the works themselves, and Palmer gives the instructor leeway to choose the works most appropriate for a particular class. Each chapter is followed by topics for consideration, suggestions for further reading, and notes pointing to the original sources. The glossary and index are sufficient but not overly thorough. Chapters are arranged by divisions within philosophy (e.g ontology, ethics, aesthetics) rather than chronologically. Overall, I very much recommend this book.

A great re-introduction to Kierkegaard for those of us who loved his work in college and want to read it again... but have day jobs!

This book appeared long before Sophie's World. I find it to be meatier than Sophie's World. It will make a perfect text book for Philosophy 101.

A great introduction to philosophical thought and philosophy in general. Nice reference to keep on hand.

Sartre