Anthony Kenny: An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy

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Anthony Kenny: An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy

1RickFlair
Jun 13, 2020, 10:36 pm

Is this the best choice for a true beginner in philosophy? I noticed there is a new 20 year anniversary edition that apparently adds some writings about modern philosophers but is only available in paperback. The older editions are available in hardback which I strongly prefer.
Folio Society has Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. Would this be the better choice?

20_o
Jun 17, 2020, 9:15 pm

I have only heard of Russel's book, and I would be temtpted to recommend that simply because you will be killing 2 birds w/ one stone: reading Russell as well is an accomplishment. I have heard that his summary of recent philosophers (he has discussions all the way up to hegel, an 18/19th century philosopher) is subpar.

But my recommendation is just to start reading philosophy based on your interests: greek philosophy, literary theory, ethics, political philosophy whatever

30_o
Jun 17, 2020, 9:16 pm

based on the books you have on this website (sam harris & dawkins) I think you would find a lot of value in russell actually, he was a well known atheist philosopher

4librorumamans
Jun 17, 2020, 10:51 pm

>1 RickFlair:

No, I don't think it is. At this point, Russell's is out of date: published in 1946 by a man whose mind was formed in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. Thus what he does cover is filtered through perceptions that are more than a century old, and what he doesn't cover is most of the past one hundred years, supposing that he organized his thoughts on the book in the late 1930s at the latest.

A more basic question to consider is: Do you want to read philosophy or do you want to read about philosophy?
So, another approach is to consider what you're interested in, as >2 0_o: mentions.

Check out, for example, what's on offer at Coursera and EdX. If there's something that looks good, you can be assured that it's going to be pretty much up to date and will probably provide reading lists.

Another place to look is The Teaching Company. I've listened to a number of lecture series from them. If you have access to a good public library, you may be able to borrow rather than buy. An advantage of having the hard copy (rather than streaming through Hoopla or Kanopy) is the course book, with its notes and extensive reading lists.

If print is your passion, then look for topic-specific collections such as Human life and the natural world : readings in the history of Western philosophy, or Great philosophers : a brief story of the self and its worlds from the same publisher. These are only examples, of course.

5RickFlair
Jun 18, 2020, 1:19 am

What do you mean by reading Russell is an accomplishment? Is this high level reading? I'm not a seasoned reader in general and I have no experience in the philosophy genre at all. I don't mind a challenge but I don't want to be heading for Google every other sentence.

6RickFlair
Editado: Jun 18, 2020, 1:23 am

I believe I want to read about philosophy. I will certainly need and want a guide to help explain the raw philosophy texts as I read. A chronological and historical progression is also appealing to me.

7librorumamans
Jun 18, 2020, 9:42 am

Rather than relying on one author's perspective, try a series. Oxford commissioned leading academics to write many of its Very short introductions titles.

Don't overlook the graphical Introducing ... series (aka ... for beginners). When I was struggling with Hegel, I found Introducing Hegel presented some concepts better than more main-stream commentaries. I believe some of the series has recently been re-released.

8RickFlair
Jun 19, 2020, 6:56 am

The lady at the book store also recommended to me the "Introducing" series. They only had 2 books from the series but they looked very appealing to me as I thumbed through. I found their website but I'm pretty sure all of their releases are not found there:
https://www.introducingbooks.com/introducing-category/graphic-guides-philosophy-...

10RickFlair
Jun 19, 2020, 9:47 am

I bought the new 20th edition of that from Barnes & Noble as it claims to add more recent philosophers. I also bought Sophie's World from Folio Society. From there, I may start to take a higher resolution look at individual philosophers and go deeper.

11librorumamans
Jun 22, 2020, 1:18 pm

For those coming across this thread:

Introduction to Philosophy offered free by U of Edinburgh through Coursera.

From the course description:
"This course will introduce you to some of the main areas of research in contemporary philosophy. Each module a different philosopher will talk you through some of the most important questions and issues in their area of expertise. We’ll begin by trying to understand what philosophy is – what are its characteristic aims and methods, and how does it differ from other subjects? Then we’ll spend the rest of the course gaining an introductory overview of several different areas of philosophy. "

12March-Hare
Dez 7, 2020, 11:09 pm

Late to the party, but Does the Center Hold? An Introduction to Western Philosophy is what I usually recommend.

13Majel-Susan
Dez 11, 2020, 12:41 pm

I'm hoping to read more philosophy next year, but I came across this article: https://medium.com/@Gregory_Sadler/the-10-best-philosophy-books-for-beginners-6d...

Would you more seasoned fellows agree with it? Rather than an introduction textbook, the article recommends The Last Days of Socrates by Plato, Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, Discourses, Fragments, Handbook by Epictetus, Confessions by Saint Augustine of Hippo, and Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, for the first five books to introduce beginners to philosophy. What d'you guys think?

14librorumamans
Editado: Dez 11, 2020, 5:39 pm

>13 Majel-Susan:

Think about what your aim or interest is: Is your interest in actually reading primary philosophical texts as a genre? Do you chiefly want to consider ideas of how to approach life? Are your questions more specific, such as questions of ethics, or the problem of evil?

The titles in your linked list are undoubtedly foundational works. They're also very demanding, and will not, as the blogger admits, reveal much of themselves on an initial reading.

If the second and third questions describe more closely what you are looking for, then another place to start is literature where there are many books that tackle tough questions of life. Two off the top of my head are The Sea Wolf and The Razor's Edge. Fifth Business is also a meaty book. The ideas in The Magic Mountain have kept me occupied on and off for decades.

15Majel-Susan
Editado: Dez 27, 2020, 5:08 pm

>14 librorumamans: Thank you for your recommendations. They look very interesting!

My interest is more general than specific, and more along the lines of the first and second questions. I'm interested in learning something that will help me to understand the what and why of life, and also to be able to recognise those patterns in literature and make sense of everyday.

Haha, when I type it out, it looks like I'm asking a bit too much from a set of books.

16March-Hare
Dez 24, 2020, 10:44 pm

Not primary texts, but you might want to check out Philosophy as a Way of Life or Upheavals of Thought.

17Majel-Susan
Dez 27, 2020, 5:08 pm

>16 March-Hare: Thank you!