Philosophy

My father in law is obsessed with Philosophy and loved the book .

It is somewhat surprising for an activity like philosophy which has been with us for over 2500 years, to be still so misunderstood by so many. Asked if she would consider philosophy as a major, a premed student said : What ?! To sit under the trees and talk about stupid stuff? Another student seriously thought that philosophy is only for the rich who don't need to work and have lots of time to talk. The question "What is philosophy and what do philosophers do?" is repeatedly being asked by prospective students, and others as well.In a nutshell, philosophy is an activity devoted to the pursuit of knowledge. It is concerned with the world we live in and asks questions about all facets of our lives. The philosopher asks: What is knowledge? What is truth? What is justice? What is love? and above all : What is the meaning of life? Granted, these are not easy questions to answer and it is not unusual to find different philosophers come up with different answers. But the search for these answers is itself a mind opener and enlightening in itself. To show us the wide range covered by philosophy the author takes the reader through ten chapter (with topics like: Life, Knowledge, Art, Free Will, Love, God, Death...) and presents the views of those philosophers in each chapter.As we recall, the search for true knowledge began with the old Greek philosophers ( Socrates, Plato, Aristotle...) who depended on questions and answers to extract the truth and, while in the process, to reveal the fallacies and inconsistencies. Socrates, using this approach cleverly, exposed the fallacies of the ruling officials at the time causing them much public embarrassment. In a seemingly revengeful response this ultimately led to his conviction, imprisonment and death by poisoning. (Even philosophising can be dangerous!).Equally intriguing to the non philosopher is what exactly do philosophers do (other than carrying on intelligent discussions)? Some in the past had maintained that philosophers don't need to work. Lately, however, they have been appreciated in businesses where the use of strict logic is required, not least of all in the IT business. Teaching is another option with growing demand - in one medium size university in the US no less than 27 philosophy teachers are listed. Other than that philosophers continue their traditional task : to enlighten human beings - to show them how to ask questions, and how to analyse, criticise, and identify discrepancies and inconsistencies. In one recent book entitled "76 Fallacies" written by another philosopher, Michael LaBossiere, the author lists all kinds of false ideas and assumptions commonly used in public to show the reader the different forms of fallacies and how to recognise them and avoid them.If philosophy is intended to enlighten us, what exactly have philosophers done to help people face the struggles and sufferings of their daily lives? Unfortunately, not much. Of all the philosophers we met in this book (80) only one, Marcus Aurelius (180 AD) paid attention to people's daily worries and anxieties. He basically adopted the key features of the Stoics (initiated with the Greek philosopher Zeno, 332 BCE). Using concepts similar to that of the Buddha's ( meditation, breathing techniques, yoga) Aurelius preached calming the mind with detached self-control. A key feature is to acquiesce to forces beyond our control and to embrace our fate. His famous directive: "Accept the things to which fate binds you, love the people with whom fate brings you together - but do this with all your heart ! "Fuad R QubeinJuly, 2016

I received a book named philosophy some may ask what is philosophy philosophy is not a thing it's an activity it is the active pursuit of reflecting in a specific context and analyzing the world in which humans find themselves it is the disposition to question everything what is knowledge what is justice what is love what is the meaning of life philosophy is the education of grown-ups.! This book is about different philosophers and their perspective on what philosophy is some think it is the meaning of life some think it's the meaning of love some think it is the meaning of knowledge.! Have you ever just sat and thought what is life what is love this book will give you an insight as to why the philosophers thought the way they did it also will give you an insight as to what philosophy is and why people study at home it does go into detail about the different philosophers and when they came about.! Philosophy means love of wisdom.! So me and my personal opinion after reading the book I believe philosophy is the art of thinking with questions deeper then what am I going to cook for dinner philosophy brings a lot of emotions out in me not sure why but it it makes me use my deepest part of my brain like when a child ask why is the sky blue.! I think people who have every person has a different perspective on what philosophy is but I do agree with all of these philosophers in this book that it is a deeper feeling deeper thought it made you dig deep down and actually think that's what's wrong with people nowadays they don't think they just one was in a book and that's it I really recommend this book to anyone who likes study philosophy I did receive this book him for free in exchange for my own honest and unbiased review and I hope my review help you out in choosing this book to buy

A new fantastic formulation of ebook, never seen before. I immediately get the desire to formulate my own main text book Suomi markalla mitaten in this way. With rich coloured illustrations it is most suitable for this kind of formulation. A third step after paper text book and ordinary e-textbook. A definite step forward. A completely new form of study guide reached by ingenious and complete internal linking of the text. The result is extremely rich contents by concise text. A combination of text book, encyclopedy, tag collection for exam reading, what else? Excellent litterary wording without one and only futile word.I got at first glance the incentive to formulate my main textbook in this way alhough abandoned already 20 years ago, but containing all necessary elements to be combined with my pioneering lectures completely computerized just before introduction of Power Point. Fingers itching to apply this formulation to two other texts, the translation of which from Russian to English and Finnish is my hobby and task at the moment.One of the best books I have ever read deserves all five stars, of course, completed wit an extra plus.

It is, I suggest, a hopeless endeavour to encapsulate the depth of any philosopher's analysis of a subject in a scant few pages. The richness of the argument is lost, as is the context. Refutation of the contemporary intellectual concensus is often a powerful motive, as are the historical circumstances in which the structures of philosophical thought are conceived. The structure of this book is an ingenious circumvention of these difficulties, not completely successful, but a worthwhile read nevertheless.

An enjoyable read but not enough detail to bring the story of philosophy to life. However, for anyone interested in philosophy the book provides a readable introduction to many of its great thinkers and their ideas.I hope you find my review helpful.

GOOD OVERALL READ

very interesting viewpoint

Anyone like me who wishes to dip into Philosophy could find nothing better than having this ebook on their kindle.