What does it mean for someone to exist? What is truth? Are we free to choose to think or act? What is consciousness? Is human cloning justifiable? These are just some of the questions philosophers have attempted to answer, striking right at the heart of what it means to be human. This important new book shows that philosophy need not be dry or intimidating. Its highly original treatment, combining philosophical analysis, historical and biographical background and thought-provoking illustrations, simultaneously informs and stimulates the reader.
Western Philosophy: An Illustrated Guide is structured thematically, in terms of major issues, with chapters on World, Mind and Body, Knowledge, Faith, Ethics and Aesthetics, and Society. Cutting across this organization by theme is a parallel organization that focuses on the great thinkers and their influence, as well as the schools or "-isms" to which they subscribed.
A highly accessible introduction to the subject, founded upon impeccable academic scholarship, Western Philosophy: An Illustrated Guide offers life-changing perspectives on what really matters.
Editorial Reviews
"A daunting subject? Perhaps, but no browser will be able to resist the stunning design here: gorgeous full-color photos, many text boxes, and concise captions that inform and interest. These and the lucid writing, with multiple examples and illuminating analogies, will engage readers and provoke them into thought before they know it. Six big questions provide overall structure: what is reality? the mind? knowledge? morality? society? Is there a God? Six contributors (edited into stylistic consistency) tease out dozens of related issues: free will, infinity, language, sex, science, democracy, globalization, etc. One- to three-page entries that summarize the contributions of thinkers from Plato through John Locke and Benedict Spinoza to Rudolf Carnap, Jerry Fodor, and John Rawls appear with the issues or questions that most absorbed them. Many philosophers are mentioned in passing, as the writers cover huge swaths of intellectual territory with clarity but also with a sense of the depths yet to plumb. This work is both accessible and challenging: the lexicon is demanding, and the ideas will provide mental exercise for all readers. Logic, at the least, is one of the most useful tools for everyday problem-solving: the more minds exposed to philosophical methods and inquiry, the better for humanity. This most attractive volume makes its discipline irresistible." –School Library Journal
About the Author
David Papineau is Professor of Philosophy at King's College, University of London. He is a former editor of The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science and is author of Thinking About Consciousness, Introducing Consciousness, and The Philosophy of Science: Oxford Readings in Philosophy.
