The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell Paperback – 19 Mar. 2018

A classic book in philosophy. Written I think in 1912, but still a valuable read. Russell's prose is absolutely perfect for introducing the reader to this hugely interesting subject. He takes you through many of philosophy's problems step by step and you certainly feel that you are getting to know what this subject entails even from the very first page. The book is also short and and can be read within a few hours, in perhaps one or two readings. This is probably one of the reasons why this book has been such a popular text. For me this book was an introduction to Russell's vastly superior work: A History of Western Philosophy.I hope you find my review helpful.

In this book, Russel indicates that to really get into philosophy, it's best to read some specific works (like from Decartes, Spinoza) to get into philosophy. He might be right, but it reading this book is certainly also a way to get some 'basics'. I enjoyed the book because to discussed some main philosophical issues in a general way, 'teasing' my thoughts to thing about them and continue reading more. What I also liked is the fact that this is not a summary of what modern philosophers have through, but rather a primer to start thinking yourself.

The book is great value for money especially for students like myself however there are some really sloppy editing mistakes, for example missing fullstops (pp. 58) and typos eg. of 'ny' when meaning 'by' (pp. 57). Also the the blurb is black writing on a pastel blue background but the writing trails off into the grey background making it extremely hard to read. So as I said, for a student it's great but for someone who wants a book to read over and over, lend it to friends and for it to be edited in a manner that is like the original I wouldn't buy this book copy unfortunately.

This is such a good book to have nearby; it is small and easy to read. Russell starts by considering the attributes of his table and pointing out several obvious aspects of this or any other object: hardness, colour, surface, etc. Then leads us to the (also obvious) notion that all perceptible qualities of any object are not those of its constituent parts. Ultimately, the atoms that form an object do not have, as intrinsic features hardness, solidity, colour or anything that we observe with senses! The attributes that we observe are those of a large number of its parts; hardness for example is something extra! It gives support to the idea that "the whole is more than the sum of its parts!" Have a good read...

This is a very good book set out in a clear and very readable style with an ability to explain difficult problemseffortlessly. It serves as an introduction to earlier philosophers as well, although not to the ancients particularly well.Russell also invented mathematical logic which shows here at times, but it is not at all necessary to have a knowledge of this to read the book.Although it is in no way a textbook, it is a very good accessory read and I would recommend it.

I first read this 30 years ago and have enjoyed the re-reading.Russell is not, I believe, regarded as being in the first rank of philosophers, but he does write with outstanding fluency, so as to make the concepts of the philosophical approach easy to follow. I'd recommend this book for anyone thinking of reading philosophy at university.

I was looking for a modern precis of the major issues surrounding philosphy. Having read original works from Aristole, Hume, Locke, Kant, Berkley and Descartes I needed somthing to help pull it all together, and this work by Russel is an excellent solution to this.It is possible to see the work of the quoted philosphoers in this work, but remains an easy and enjoyable read. One criticism is that the works of the earleir 'masters' is hardly referenced, so it lacks quality for research. Also some of the subject matter is disregarded in the name of brevity.I've always been a fan of Russell and this is another fine peice of writing. At times, it's even quite funny - imagine the suprise of the chicken!!!

I bought this for my granddaughter who has decided to study philosophy and ethics at A level. This book is very interesting and readable. She was delighted with it, as was I.